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Travel Story

Banzai!

Watching sunrise from the top of Mt. Fuji

It’s around 7 p.m. on an August evening in Japan’s busiest train station. Most of Shinjuku station’s three million odd commuters have already passed through for the day and are at home or out in the Tokyo streets shopping, slurping back ramen or unwinding in an izakaya (Japanese pub).

Exiting into the Tokyo air it’s about 27 degrees and humid. The goal is to find the bus kiosk and buy a ticket to Kawaguchi-ko fifth station on Mt. Fuji, where I will begin my overnight ascent to the 3,776-metre summit to watch the sunrise.

With ticket in hand there is roughly 45 minutes to kill until the bus departs. With the current inventory of my backpack being an old rain suit, some extra layers, a mediocre flashlight and a thermos of green tea, it was time to stock up on some much needed supplies. A nearby convenience store serves the purpose with onigiri (a rice ball), a sushi roll, water, chocolate and an energy drink. The rest of my time is spent wandering around in a daze of neon and casino-like noises. There is a vast array of electronics on the streets of Japan that won’t hit North America for at least a few years.

As all things Japanese, the bus leaves on time. To my surprise it is half empty and mostly packed with foreigners.

As we head past the Tokyo skyline on a raised expressway everyone exchanges small talk and the hustle and bustle is quickly left behind. The tall buildings and massive urban sprawl thin out considerably and the density seems to disappear as we near the Kawaguchi-ko countryside at the base of Mt. Fuji.

The time passes quickly and the bus arrives at the 2,305-metre Kawaguchi-ko fifth station at 9:45 p.m. Upon exiting the bus it’s noticeably cooler – the temperature has already dropped to 17 degrees at this elevation.

After some final preparations at the bus terminal it’s time to begin the 1,471 metre ascent to the summit.

The idea is to be at the top no later than 4:30 a.m. to see the beginning of the sunrise. As the lights of the bus terminal fade away it darkens considerably. It quickly becomes obvious that my mediocre flashlight is pretty much useless. Not to worry though, my eyes adjust as the darkness descends.

Although up to 3,000 people climb Mt. Fuji every night during the official July-August "climbing season" there seem to be few people around at the moment. There are five major routes to ascend Mt. Fuji; hikers usually chose the most direct route depending on which part of Japan they are starting from.

For the most part the ascent is easy going and only the darkness renders some sections slightly technical. A few hours pass and the lights of the first mountain huts seem about an hour away. The huts serve as rest points for those who began the ascent in the afternoon and sleep until its time for the final push to the summit. You can also take a break and warm up to a bowl of miso soup or ramen.

A light rain develops and I pull aside to suit up and warm myself with a bit of green tea. Another man is stopped opposite suiting up as well. We begin chatting and I offer him some of my tea. He accepts and as we begin ascending again he gives me some sembei (rice crackers). We carry on together and attempt to chat in his broken English and my broken Japanese.

He, like many Japanese men, is a "Salary Man" – a businessman of some sort who works for a salary. He has made the climb an annual event and has been climbing Fuji-san for the last four years. We begin passing the basic mountain huts as we near the last section before the summit.

We go our separate ways when he enters a hut to fuel up with some ramen. As I trudge on I am amazed, but not overly surprised, to come face to face with a vending machine near the summit. After all this is Japan.

The amazement continues on the last stretch before the final hike to the summit when I pass a strip of rustic souvenir shops.

A time check reveals that it’s only 3:30 a.m. It’s still raining and it is now zero degrees.

Knowing that standing still after hours of hiking in the cold could be a recipe for hypothermia, I decide to go up and check out the summit. It only takes about 10 minutes and a look down reveals a steady stream of hundreds of flashlights ascending up the mountain from various trails.

Still too early to wait for the sunrise I decide to head back to the gift shops and get some shelter until 4:30 a.m. The last half hour or so seemed to take forever, huddled in the rain talking to strangers.

All the hard work pays of in the end though. While the hordes of flashlights continued to ascend, the sun finally poked through the mist in the most picturesque sunrise ever. Everyone shouted out a "Banzai!" (hooray!) and as the time passed the sun melted away the early morning mist to offer phenomenal views of Tokyo and the surrounding areas.

A leisurely hike around the crater loop of the volcano took about an hour. On the loop there is the weather station, which sits on the actual summit. After that it was time to pick up a key chain from one high-up gift shop.

With one last look around it was time to begin the knee-straining descent back to the bus terminal. During the daylight the descent is quite boring. Seeing as Mt. Fuji is a volcano of a fairly high altitude there is little to no flora, fauna or anything else to look at on the hike down. The only excitement is gained by sliding down through the loose volcanic rock in an attempt to speed up the descent and take some strain off your knees. The descent was twice as fast as the ascent.

It was quite a night, but it was good to get back home and catch some sleep before work the next day.