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DON'T TAKE ME TO MT FUJI
“He who climbs Mount Fuji once is a wise man; he who climbs it twice is a fool”
Japanese proverb
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Everyone wants to climb Fuji once: It’s iconic, symmetrical, and let’s be honest, more bucket list than bliss. The climb isn’t beautiful in a traditional sense; it’s a long slog up loose volcanic gravel, often in the dark, and you’ll share the trail with hundreds of other climbers.
But it’s still Fuji. The image of the mountain casting its shadow across the Kanto Plain is one of Japan’s most powerful. And reaching the summit as dawn breaks—surrounded by a ragtag mix of locals and internationals, all cheering above the clouds—feels genuinely extraordinary. Maybe you’ll even buy a Coke from the highest vending machine in Japan.
If that’s the dream, I can help you do it properly: starting from the right station, pacing it for sunrise, and finishing in the perfect hot spring bath at the base.
And if you’ve already done it once and are ready for something new, there’s a whole country of mountains and trails waiting: quieter, wilder, and just as profound.
Climb Fuji once. Absolutely. But the real Japan begins when you climb back down, so let’s plan what comes after.
Wake to sunrise above a sea of clouds on Mount Tsubakuro
the Queen of the Alps, where mountain air tastes of cedar and miso soup
Follow the cedar-lined Kumano Kodō
ancient pilgrimage trails once walked by emperors, winding through shrines and waterfalls toward the Pacific
Trace the Nakasendō Trail between Edo and Kyoto
walking in the footsteps of samurai and merchants through mountain passes and timeworn post towns
Begin your own Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage
a lifelong journey completed in stages, linking devotion, landscape, and time
Cycle the Shiminami Kaido
gliding between island bridges, fishing towns, and coastal cafés built for the road
Climb Mount Haguro’s 2,446 stone steps
past cedar giants and the five-story pagoda that guards the entrance to the sacred peaks
Ascend Mount Ishizuchi in Shikoku
western Japan’s highest of the 'Seven Sacred Peaks' etched with autumn flame
Cycle the Kibi Plain
through rice fields and temple-dotted plains tied to Japan’s earliest mythic legends
Drop into the deep off Okinawa’s western edge
where hammerhead sharks drift through underwater ruins on the edge of legend
Walk the winter marshes of Tsurui at dawn
where red-crowned cranes perform their aerial courtship, Japan’s most poetic wild spectacle
Catch a wave on Shikoku’s untamed Pacific coast
cedar forests meet surf towns, and temples look out over the swell
Trek Yakushima’s mossy cedar forests
ancient trees, island onsen, and ocean air blur the line between earth and myth
Cross the Tateyama Alpine Route between hot springs and snow walls
a pilgrimage through Japan’s sacred peaks where steam, ice, and faith still meet
Follow the old Shio-no-michi trade route
Soak in alpine onsen and savour how the seasons unfold where salt carved a path from the sea through the mountains
Climb to Bitchū Matsuyama Castle, Japan’s highest original keep
Follow stone paths into the clouds to reach an samurai stronghold
Walk the quiet paths of Oirase Stream
where waterfalls cut through beech forests and mist hangs like god's breath
Follow the Kamuiwakka Hot River upstream
boiling springs tumble through moss and the forest is soaked in clouds of steam
Cross the vine bridges of Iya Valley
woven from roots and myth, along which samurai once fled into mist and courage sways with every step
If the summit was the start, not the finish, of your Japan story, I can help write the next chapter.
Book a 30-minute consultation and let’s begin.ONSEN
If you can reach it by Romancecar, you’re not off the map
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From alpine ridgelines to riverside baths, Japan’s mountains and hot springs share the same quiet purpose: to strip things back until only what matters remains.
Onsen towns are Japan’s storytelling resorts: steam, stillness, and ritual in equal measure. Hakone is the icon, easy to reach, beautifully framed by mountain and lake, and known to everyone. The trouble is, by the time you arrive, the story’s already been told. If you want to bathe in the shadow of Mt Fuji, I can help make that happen. But I can also take you further, to places where the water feels wilder, the welcome quieter, and the story still unfolding.
The most meaningful baths sit off the map, in cedar forests, beside rain-shadowed rivers, in inns that ask you to turn off your phone. They’re less about checking in and more about checking out. Whether you’re after a quiet soak in a local city sento or a digital-detox retreat where time slows with the steam, I can point you there.
Looking for a true thermal escape or simply a sublime bath between towns? I can arrange both.
Beppu, the ultimate hot spring powerhouse
“Hells” that bubble, hiss, and colour the ground red, then sink into an onsen that reminds you this whole island is alive
Find quiet among the hills of Yufuin
Small galleries, morning mist, and hot spring inns. Beppu’s gentler, more contemplative twin
When Japanese dream, they dream of Kinosaki
Prove your devotion to the art of bathing by following the willow-lined canal through seven lucky bathhouses
Follow the bamboo path to Shuzenji
A literary retreat turned sanctuary, where poets once traded verses and steam rises beside the river
Let the earth hold you in Ibusuki
Lie back as attendants bury you in warm volcanic sand by the sea. The weight, the heat, the scent of salt. All that’s left is calm
Soak your cares away on the Hotaka foot-bath trail
a string of riverside ashiyu - hot-spring fed footbaths - where boots come off but the magic stays on
Float between sky and cedar at Kurokawa
Follow a path through the woods to hidden outdoor baths carved into the hillside, each one fed by its own secret spring
Beat the blues at Nyuto onsen
Follow forest trails into Akita’s hidden valley to milky pools steaming in the snow
Soak in silver waters of Ginzan
Once a mountain silver mine, now Japan’s most exclusive hot spring hideaway
Skip the skyline spa & join the locals instead
In a neighbourhood bathhouse beneath a painted Mount Fuji, steam and stillness come cheap: just ¥520 and an open mind
Dip into orchard steam in Tōhoku’s apple onsen
In winter, hot springs fill with yuzu and apples. Japan’s most fragrant ritual for body, skin, and spirit
Book the silence, not the room
In a private kashikiri-buro, the water’s yours alone. Cedar-scented, moonlit, and made for unhurried hours off-grid
Steam fades. Memories shouldn’t.
Book a 30-minute consultation and plan the Japan that stays with youSubscribe to our newsletter
It’s for travellers who’ve done the checklist and are ready for the edit
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