My Sunday afternoon at Fujiyoshida's Hataori-Machi Festival, 18 October 2026: tufted mats and tableware on the streets around Gekkoji, South Indian meals at Kariamudhu, very little English guidance, and Mt Fuji in view.
Eleven day-trip baths around Mt Fuji, checked on their official pages on 7 October 2026. Two are on extended closures, and Izumi no Yu was also closed that day for its regular Wednesday break. Compare Mt Fuji views, tattoo rules, prices, towels and car-free routes.
The shrine at the foot of Mt Fuji's Yoshida Trail and element 1-6 of the Fuji World Heritage property: the great torii, the halls Fuji-kō donations rebuilt from 1736, who the Fuji-kō were, the walk to Nakanochaya and Umagaeshi, and how to get there, with my snowy photos from March 2025.
A national-team training park in Fujiyoshida - sprint camps 2001-2012, the 2018 relay squad, France rugby 2019 - that turns into an empty maple park every November.
Three dated stops from one autumn: golden larch on the Subaru Line (2 Nov), Kaneyama Falls at peak maple (12 Nov) and Taro-Jiro Falls (27 Nov) - with bus, road and parking detail.
Fujiyoshida's yabusame festival, Sept 18–19, 2026: horses run from 1 p.m. on the 19th, and between the runs a hereditary diviner reads the hoofprints — the districts' forecast through next spring. Access, times and my 2025 procession photos.
From 1 October 2026 the Shinjuku-Kawaguchiko highway bus runs 55 services a day each way, and 32 of them move to a different booking site. Times, fares, and how not to pay twice.
From September 19, 2026 one Fujikyuko Line set wears a livery marking 35 years as a sister railway to the line that climbs to Zermatt. It runs as an ordinary local — here is how to catch it, and how to use the line.
My home town's biggest night: 2 km of three-metre torches under Mt Fuji, Aug 26–27, 2026. Times, road closures, 26 extra trains and where to stand — from a Fujiyoshida local.
I’m Nobu, and I live in Fujiyoshida, close enough to Mount Fuji that visitors often assume I can see the summit every summer morning. So between May 26 and August 14, 2026, I did the simplest test possible: I looked.…
Nearly every image on Hidden Japan Gems was photographed by me on a Sony α7 across five years of walking Japan; a few licensed photos fill the gaps. Please don't re-use my photos without permission — reach out if you'd like to.
For licensing, write to hello@hiddenjapan-gems.com