Have you seen that famous photo of the temple and Mt Fuji in the distance?
We went there on the weekend!
It has been on my dream list for years and finally we made it there.
AND the cherry blossoms were in bloom!
I was worried about getting up the mountain with my kids, but I was pleasantly surprised that we not only made it to the top but we also had a great time!
If you are hoping to visit this amazing location with a baby or young kids, make sure you read my tips below!
Tips:
1.Stroller
Surprisingly, it is stroller-friendly!!
I was totally shocked as I had done alot of research (in both English and Japanese) about the location but I didn’t find any information about this, so this was a wonderful discovery.
There are 2 ways to climb the mountain – either by the stairs (15min) or by the winding path (20-30min). The winding path is perfect if you have a stroller!
Check the map below for the location of the entrance of the winding path, as it is quite hidden from view.
Basically the entrance to the slope is on the left-hand side of the stairs – so you need to follow the road around to the left and then you will find the entrance to the slope.
Note: The winding path will take you to the base of the pagoda, but you will need to climb up a few stairs to the lookout to take photos with Mt Fuji in the background. So you will need to leave your stroller down next to the pagoda while you walk up to take photos.
2.Food
There is no food or vending machines (or at least not in the early morning that I could see – we went there at 6am). There were some food trucks on the base of the stairs, but they must open later because they weren’t open in the early morning at 6-8am.
So make sure you bring water and snacks with you!
If you have young kids they may be happy to walk up the stairs, so they will be puffed and thirsty after all the hiking!
There is a lovely area to the right of the pagoda where we sat to have a picnic, so I highly recommend to take a break there with your kids! It was so beautiful.
3.How to get there
Most people catch the train to Shimoyoshida Station and then walk to the pagoda. But my trick was to catch a taxi!
This way my kids didn’t get tired before we had even arrived at the temple, especially as I knew it would be a good 15min walk up the mountain.
So I caught a taxi from my hotel to the base of the mountain at 6am.
This was fantastic! I highly recommend it. It only cost about 1000yen ($10) from my hotel (it depends on where you are staying. We stayed near Mt Fuji Station, so it was about 10min in the taxi).
When it was time to leave, we were lucky there was another taxi at the base of the mountain waiting for customers.
So we jumped in and he took us directly to our breakfast location. The kids were happy and I was happy! It was perfect.
Details:
- Name: Chureito Pagoda
- Address: 3353-1 Arakura, Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi
- Google map link
Watch the video below!







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