Family Travel to Mount Fuji

We had high hopes for visiting Mount Fuji.  Matt has a thing for mountains and we’ve been unlucky quite a few times with bad weather ruining our view.   To our disappointment, it was super cloudy when we arrived at our hotel at Mount Fuji and we never did see the full view of the mountain, even with Matt’s early wake-up call attempting to photograph Mount Fuji at sunrise. 

We booked a super Japanese hotel, Shoji Mount Hotel, which we were excited to experience.  The staff didn’t speak any English beside “hello”, “credit card”, and “breakfast”. LOL.  Everything was so different.  We had to remove our shoes as soon as we entered the building and wear these hard wooden sandals during our stay.  Our room had a table on the floor with pillows and a closet “bunk” beds for the boys to sleep in.  The hotel also had the common separate male/female public bathing areas which children are not permitted to use.  

We loved this hotel because it was SO Japanese and also served dinner and breakfast (I can’t imagine where we would have eaten if they didn’t because the area is pretty remote).  The food was super authentic and there wasn’t much our toddlers would eat, but I have to say, Matt and I loved everything.  No wonder the Japanese tend to be lean, no high carb meals with sugary syrups.  Instead, we ate miso soup and an assortment of fish and cooked veggie plates for breakfast.  I must admit, I always ate a bunch of things but never felt full like I would from a continental breakfast in the states.   The kids liked the hotel too because they had a little section in the lobby with a ton of Legos, books (in Japanese) and toys to play with, and even a ping pong table in another area.  I’m so glad we experienced this hotel and it will always stand out to me as one of the most interesting, cultural places we’ve stayed.

Although overcast, we took the boys over to the lake in front of Mount Fuji to explore, throw rocks and play in the dirt.  I imagine it must be so beautiful to stay at Shoji Mount in the summertime and swim in the lake, or take scenic photos of Mount Fuji in the spring during cherry blossom season.  We were definitely visiting at a non-peak tourist season.  Despite our disappointment to not see Mount Fuji in full, I’m so thankful for our experience at Shoji Mount.  It was a nice break from the big city travel life which we experienced the rest of our trip throughout Japan. 

Despite our disappointment to not see Mount Fuji in full, I’m so thankful for our experience at Shoji Mount.  It was a nice break from the big city travel life which we experienced the rest of our trip throughout Japan.