![Cycling Mt. Fuji Azami Line - drone aerial photo of Mt. Fuji]( "Mt. Fuji Azami Line")
You will not find a more distinctive mountain anywhere.
![Cycling Mt. Fuji Azami Line - drone aerial sphere photo of Mt. Fuji at sunrise]( "Mt. Fuji Azami Line")
Cycling Mt. Fuji on Route 150 from Oyama-chō to the Komitake Shrine - a Top 100 World Climb up the tallest mountain in Japan. We begin our climb by traveling east on Higashi-Fuji-Goko Road (Road 138) and traveling about 6 miles / 10k up 35+ hairpins to Fuji Azami Line Fifth Station. From here we can walk several more miles to the summit of Mt. Fuji, but it is an impossible path by any type of bike.
![Bike climb Mt. Fuji Azami Line - start - roadway and Mt. Fuji]( "Mt. Fuji Azami Line")
Photo from Kaleb Kimbrell, Tokyo and San Diego
Sadly, it was raining and snowing on our day up Mt. Fuji May 4, 2019
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Mt. Fuji as seen from the International Space Station.
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Mt. Fuji is holy to the Japanese. The great artist Hokusai did a number of famous views and Studies of Mt. Fuji:
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/78803. One of them is famous and has been co-opted by advertisers and capitalists. It’s on the opening page of the Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty-six_Views_of_Mount_Fuji
![Bicycle climb Mt. Fuji Azami Line - cyclist on roadway with cherry trees in blossom]( "Mt. Fuji Azami Line")
Just a bit up the road from the start.
![Climbing Mt. Fuji Azami Line by bike - aerial drone photo of roadway and cyclist surrounded by forest]( "Mt. Fuji Azami Line")
![Climbing Mt. Fuji Azami Line by bike - aerial drone photo of roadway and cyclist surrounded by forest]( "Mt. Fuji Azami Line")
Raining at the bottom and snowing at the top May 4, 2019.
![BikingMt. Fuji Azami Line - cyclist on road passing Mt. Fuji Azami line road sign]( "Mt. Fuji Azami Line")
![Bike climb Mt. Fuji Azami Line - cyclist on bike shown in roadway mirror]( "Mt. Fuji Azami Line")
![Biking Mt. Fuji Azami Line - cyclist on hairpin]( "Mt. Fuji Azami Line")
A shame we couldn’t get the drone up over these magnificent hairpins.
![Cycling Mt. Fuji Azami Line - cyclist on road - overheating brakes steep grade roadway sign]( "Mt. Fuji Azami Line")
Very steep climb - steepest ½ km 17%, 1 km 15%, 2 km 14%
![Cycling Mt. Fuji Azami Line - cyclist on road on bike passing Hwy 150 sign]( "Mt. Fuji Azami Line")
Climb is on Highway 150 the from start to finish - minimal traffic.
![Cycling Mt. Fuji Azami Line - cyclist on walkway at finish of climb at 5th station]( "Mt. Fuji Azami Line")
Finish at Fuji Azami Line 5th Station.
WHAT A TRIP
The ascents to the four 5th Stations was first, but by no means the only, stop on our Top 100 World Cycling Asian adventure.
![cycling Mt. Fuji - Fujinomiya Line - PJAMM Cyclings Asia trip itinerary map]( "Mt. Fuji - Fujinomiya Line")
PJAMM’s May, 2019 Asian Trip Itinerary.
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Big-time adventurer Kyle Stanton-Wyman, Bremerton, WA writes for the hike up to Mt. Fuji (as part of our bike-hike sometime in the future):
In regards to a Fuji summer summit - yes I have done that once and it is much more achievable. I climbed the Gotemba route in August of '18 during the official climbing season. Strava link for details and photos: https://www.strava.com/activities/1153817882/overview
Fuji (when snow free) is a 'simple' hike and doesn't require any technical climbing skills or equipment, but it is still a very strenuous hike. Gotemba is the longest of the four routes at 7,400 vft, and the other three are around 4,000 vft. Beware that you might suffer from the high altitude, given the summit is at 12,388 ft. It is most popular to start the hike pre-dawn, and summit in time for sunrise as that is typically when the weather is clearest. Given the peak's isolated nature, it is often obscured in clouds by the afternoon. Also be warned that the three shorter trails are EXTREMELY busy during the official climbing season, especially on weekends (check out the picture of the traffic jam of hikers on my strava link). During the official climbing season there are also open noodle huts selling food and water on the summit. Outside the official climbing season, the summit may still be relatively snow free and easy to hike, especially in early fall, and there will be far fewer people, but no services.
Lastly, here are the three rules for off season climbing: http://www.fujisan-climb.jp/en/risk/guidelines.html
Although the website says it's "prohibited", that's a mis-translation. They just want to make sure you are fully prepared for the conditions.
I'm sure you got the road riding beta from Caleb. Based upon that, I think a bike and hike is perfectly possible on any of the 4 routes!
Wikipedia says of Mt. Fuji:
“Mount Fuji is located on Honshu Island, is the highest mountain in Japan at 3,776.24 m (12,389 ft). It is an active stratovolcano that last erupted in 1707–1708, Mount Fuji lies about 100 kilometres (60 mi) south-west of Tokyo, and can be seen from there on a clear day. Mount Fuji's exceptionally symmetrical cone, which is snow-capped for about 5 months a year, is a well-known symbol of Japan and it is frequently depicted in art and photographs, as well as visited by sightseers and climbers.[7]
Mount Fuji is one of Japan's "Three Holy Mountains" along with Mount Tate and Mount Haku. It is also a Special Place of Scenic Beauty and one of Japan's Historic Sites. It was added to the World Heritage List as a Cultural Site on June 22, 2013.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Fuji
This website is excellent and tells you all you need to know about hiking to the top of Mt. Fuji - https://www.garyjwolff.com/climbing-mt-fuji.html#1
We've partnered with Sherpa-Map.com to bring you the best route planning tool. With a PRO Membership you can use this climb as a reference when creating your route. 
