We arrived at Lake Kawaguchiko in the early afternoon after our scary runaway from the ghost hospital in Fuji-Q Highland, when we found the Fuji Mt. surrounded by clouds, the trees casted their reflection on the water, we fell in love instantly. Lake Kawaguchiko had much more than I expected, the resplendent luxury of the main hall of music forest museum and its lovely rose garden attracted me so much, the lavender field on north side of the lake allowed us to watch the Fuji mountains with sweet fragrant around. Could a holiday getaway get any better than this? See for yourself, and feel free to share any thoughts you have!
Tips
You can take the retro bus around the lake for sightseeing, but we chose to rent a bike, so we wouldn’t miss any great part of the lake.
Access
Lake Kawaguchiko is about 1hour and 40minutes from Shinjuku in Tokyo by Chuo Highway Bus, we highly recommend that you book the ticket in advance, or else you might have to take the train which is approximately 2 hours 10 minutes from Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko Station , and you need to change to the Fuji Kyuko Line at Otsuki Station from the JR Chuo Line.
The bus ticket is far more cheaper than the train tickets, and cost less time to get to your destination(you don’t need to change the line), but the tickets are sold out quite quickly and there’s possibility it takes more than three hours if unfortunately there is a traffic jam, and you have to book the exact schedule, which restrict the time to enjoy the lake if you want to stay at the lake late till you are satisfied.
Best way is you buy the JR Fuji Pass, so you can save more money and arrange your time perfectly, but a little bit expensive than the bus fare, or buy the bus ticket for your outward journey and take the train when you return.
See & Do
Check out the map of Lake Kawaguchiko, so you might have better picture of those areas mentioned below.
Oishi Park: If you come in June or July, take your time to wander the Oishi Park, which locates on north side of the lake, tens of thousands of lavender lie beside the lake, you can have one of the best scene to watch the Fuji Mt. through those purple flowers.
Kawaguchiko Music Forest: Walking in the rose garden, delicate brides connected the cute architectures, pink and red roses embellish the garden. The museum houses many valuable music boxes, you can enjoy the music every half hour in different halls or outdoor beside the fountain.
South Side of the lake – If you want a snatch of peace around the lake, south side will be the place for you, there’s not much tourists as on north side, and many small ponds hiding in the bushes will be the best place to sit and watch the mountains and the reflections on the water.
Tenjoyama Park Mt. Kachikachi Ropeway : Actually we didn’t come up to the park, we rode rental bikes round the lake, but the tunnel to the park besides the lake bridge was hard to achieve(cars driving so fast), it was difficult for cyclers to cut off the way, and there were time limit from the bike rental store, but I highly recommend this place since it is the best place to overlook the whole lake area and the Fuji mountains. Hope anyone can share their experience about the ropeway.
We rode the bike along the south side of the lake, the scene of clouds forming on tops of the mountains around the lake was one of my favorite.
The reflection of the clouds and sky on the water were cheerful.
We stepped on the mud, elbowed the path to a small pond.
There were nobody around this area, the rock just sat there, like a secret place open only to us. We had some quiet moments doing nothing but watch the still lake.
There were Double Scull Competition on the Lake Kawaguchiko, but we were unlucky, the competition seemed already finished when we passed by.
The Music Forest was like a private garden, the environment was delicately designed with lovely roses and cute architectures.
A corner in the garden where we can enjoy a meal and watch the Fuji Mt.
A herb shop with so many soaps, herb perfumes and cute dalls packed with herb or dried flowers.
I liked the roses they raised, so intact and colorful.
Lover’s secret place.
One of the concert hall.
Enjoying the Music Water Show, the best part of it was the conduct was a wooden figure doll, I really liked the way he bowed in the end of the performence.
The largest music box played in the concert hall and performed every 30 minutes.
Where we sat and enjoyed the performence.
The large music box. Quite amazed to see so many wooden dolls playing together for a show.
On the way to the Oishi Park, Mt. Fuji could be seen almost everywhere on north side of the lake.
Here we arrived the Oishi Park. It was a flower trail leading us to the Fuji Mt. of Flower.
Though the lavender season was over, we were still lucky to see some of them, and the fragrance of the lavender was still strong.
Wish I could live in that house, imagine you wake up every morning with so many flowers in front of your house, what a wonderful day it would be.
Some hydrangea bushes by the road side.
If it were not a rainy day, the sceney of the Fuji Mt. would be excellent, very picturesque.
Residential area near the lake, we were lost after the sky became dark, the best way to avoid this was to leave before the sun went down, or else you might be in the same situation as we were since there were not a sign pointing out the way back to the train station if you were out of the main road.
The last glimpse at the Fuji Mt., wish the next visit I could see a clear Mt.
