After Osaka, we headed to Fujiyoshida, right next to Mount Fuji. To get there, we took the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Atami, picked up a rental car, and drove the rest of the way.
About the Shinkansen. You book tickets in the SmartEX app. In the app, you link your tickets to your ICOCA card, which is the same card we’ve been using for subways and buses everywhere. One card for all public transit in the entire country. No bullshit.
You show up at the station maybe 15 minutes early. Scan your card, walk in. No lines, no talking to anyone, no weighing your luggage. If you booked a reserved seat, you sit there. If not, you go to an unreserved car and find a spot.
If your train ticket says 8:47, it leaves at 8:47. Not 8:48. Same thing for arrival times. It’s crazy how accurate it is.
You can go 200 km in about an hour for around $50. The seats are comfortable, tons of legroom, free WiFi. It’s just… easy. Way better than flying. And lightyears ahead of VIA Rail. I really hope whoever’s working on that “maybe someday” high-speed rail between Quebec City and Toronto has taken a trip to Japan. Cause this is how it should work.
Here’s a quick video to show how fast these things go, especially when they blast through a station without stopping.
We got to Atami and picked up our rental car: a Nissan Dayz. It’s a kei car, which means “light vehicle”. These things max out at 660cc engines. That’s like half of the smallest car back home. But they get all kinds of perks here: lower taxes, cheaper tolls, better fuel efficiency. And somehow, we still fit all our luggage in it. These cars are everywhere in Japan.
We made it to Fujiyoshida and checked into our apartment. After 10+ months of travel and way too many accommodations to count, this one is my favourite. It’s just perfect. Super cozy, very Japanese style, beautiful decor. It’s owned by a Canadian guy from Vancouver Island that moved to Japan.
It also came with a Super Famicom (Super Nintendo) and our own private arcade. Yeah. That was a hit with the kids (and Mylene).
Fujiyoshida is home to one of the most famous views in Japan: the red pagoda with Mount Fuji in the background. Best light is at sunrise, around 5:30am. Weather looked good (which is not a given, since Fuji is hidden behind clouds almost 300 days a year), so I decided to go for it.
I’d heard it gets crowded. It’s also peak cherry blossom season. So naturally, I thought showing up at 5:00am, 30 minutes before sunrise would be early enough.
It was not.
Emma came with me, which was cool. But when we got there just before 5:00, there were already tons of people. And I couldn’t get the exact angle I wanted. So yeah… pretty frustrating. We still got some good shots, just not the shot.
Later that day, we went to Oishi for more views of the mountain. There are a bunch of flowers in the park, so you can frame Fuji nicely in the background. Definitely worth it.
When you look at Mt Fuji in photos, it looks like a mountain. But in reality, it was actually very impressive to see. It's height is 3,776 m. To put that into perspective, if it would be in the Canadian Rockies, it would be the second highest peak, after Mt Robson. But to me, what makes it spectacular, is that there are no other mountains around it. It's prominence is 3,776 m. The only mountain in Canada with a higher prominence is Mt Logan. So yeah, in photos it may not appear to be that tall, but is in incredible to see in real life.
After that, we walked down the main street in town, which also happens to have a great view of Mount Fuji. The problem is… it’s an actual street with cars. And people constantly stepping into traffic to take photos. The locals are understandably not thrilled. There are now security guards whose entire job is basically to yell at tourists doing dumb stuff.
Then we headed back. Mylène went to the famous viewpoint later in the day, but at that point there’s a lineup and a strict 5-minute time limit, so the view is fantastic, but the experience not so much.
Next morning, I went back for round two. This time I went an hour earlier. Still not early enough.
There were already about a dozen people there before me. I couldn’t get the perfect spot again, but I was maybe 1.5 meters off this time, so still better. The downside: waking up at 3:30am. Not ideal. But yeah… YOLO (can we still use this term in 2026?).
Later that day, we visited a small traditional village, kind of like the one in Takayama but much smaller. This one has great views of Fuji.
On the way back, we stopped at a store called Hard Off. It’s technically a thrift store, but calling it that feels wrong. This place is insane. Electronics, cameras, lenses, musical instruments, video games, record players, clothes… everything. And somehow it doesn’t smell weird. (Seriously, why do they all smell the same in Canada?)
I picked up a Super Famicom controller. They look different than Super Nintendo controllers and it was only $3. It was not possible to not buy it.
Emma, on the other hand, bought a suit. Full outfit. Skirt and tie. No idea why, but she’s been wanting one for months, so she was thrilled.
We went back to the apartment and spent the evening playing video games. Not a bad way to end the day.
The next day was rainy, so we kept it low-key and ran some errands. Emma needed a new suitcase (hers broke last year), and with all the stuff we’ve been accumulating in Japan, we needed to buy it now.
We also stopped at Uniqlo so I could grab some pants. Somehow that turned into school shopping for the kids. They’re back in school in like three weeks, and none of their uniforms fit anymore. Three weeks, crazy!
Next morning, it was time to leave Mount Fuji and head to our next stop. But first, we had Japanese pancakes. They’re super thick, but also super fluffy. The kids and I went for the raspberry ones, and they tasted almost exactly like my mom’s raspberry pudding. Delicious. 👌
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