Akaiwa 8gokan — Local services in Gotenba

I climbed up Gotemba and down Yoshida to visit Lake Kawaguchiko. I can certainly say the Gotemba route is more enjoyable: far fewer people, less dust. And I would stay at Akaiwa Hachigokan again.

The hosts were very friendly, and the curry was good for recovery. One of the hosts observed me climbing towards the hut and was able to give me a very reasonable estimate of how much time I would need to get to the summit in the morning for sunrise.

You will sleep on a shelf together with many other persons. If you are tall and have one of the ladders at your feet (as I did), then you will need to curl on your side in order to fit. But it is a mountain hut, so that is reasonable to expect. You have a storage shelf above your sleeping space; be aware that less experienced climbers may carelessly throw their things up onto the storage shelf without looking, so you should not leave anything fragile (e.g. glasses) or that could be buried or knocked down (e.g. medicines) outside of the protection of your pack. If you climb for sunrise and return back down on the same route, then you can eat breakfast on your way back down.

Toilets were clean, but, as other commenters have pointed out, bring some toilet paper of your...

Sadly we did not make it to this hut in time due to slow climbing on my part. However, the staff called us and were kind enough to book us a room at one of their other huts further down. We made it there in time and they even made vegetarian accommodations for the food. Absolutely wonderful...

Awesome views and such a great experience climbing MT Fuji. Definitely a must if in Japan during the climbing season. You don’t need to be an experienced climber or have any special gear as long as you go during the season July-august. Great views...