6 spots โ sorted by traveller rating
The Fujinomiya and Gotemba routes from Shizuoka Prefecture offer quieter ascents of Mt. Fuji during the official JulyโSeptember season. The Fujinomiya route is the shortest to the summit and offers direct views of the sea of clouds and Suruga Bay. Pre-registration is now required; advance booking of mountain huts enables the classic overnight summit for sunrise (goraiko).
Atami's fireworks festivals run throughout the year โ a unique seasonal tradition in this compact hot spring resort town. Shells are launched from the hillside above Atami Bay and viewed from the enclosed natural amphitheatre of surrounding mountains, creating an intimate setting where every seat is good. Night-time onsen with fireworks visible from the outdoor bath is the ultimate Atami experience.
Each year on July 10 the Fujinomiya Trail officially opens for the climbing season, marked by ceremonies at the 5th Station and the removal of the wooden barriers that close the upper mountain through spring. The opening weekend draws serious mountaineers and first-timers alike, many beginning their summit attempt at midnight to reach the crater rim at dawn for the legendary goraiko sunrise. The Shizuoka side celebrates the mountain as its own in a way the more famous Yoshida Trail on the Yamanashi side does not โ quieter, steeper, and more intimate.
In late April the Makinohara plateau and the hillside farms of the Abe River valley fill with pickers harvesting the first flush โ the ichiban-cha โ the most delicate and prized tea of the year. Many estates invite visitors to join the harvest, learning to select only the two leaves and a bud at the shoot tip that produce the finest sencha, and then to steam and roll their own small batch of tea to take home. The landscape during picking season โ rows of vivid green tea bushes in the slanted spring light โ is one of rural Japan's great visual spectacles.
Atami's fireworks displays are held multiple times throughout the year, fired from a barge in the enclosed horseshoe harbour so that the bursts of colour reflect perfectly in the still water below, creating a mirrored double image that photographers travel from across Japan to capture. The enclosed bay amplifies every explosion into a rolling boom that echoes off the hillside hotels, and the combination of hot spring town atmosphere, hillside lanterns, and seafront crowds makes these events feel like quintessential Showa-era Japan. Summer and New Year displays are the largest, but even the smaller off-season shows are spectacular.
Every year from May 3 to 5, the vast sandbars of the Nakatajima sand dunes at the mouth of the Tenryu River become the battleground for what is considered the world's largest kite fighting festival, drawing over a million spectators over the three-day Golden Week event. Teams from different neighbourhoods fly enormous hand-painted kites on lines of woven hemp, attempting to cut their rivals' strings in a tradition dating back over 430 years. The noise, colour, and crowd energy across the dunes โ with dozens of massive kites clashing overhead โ is overwhelming in the best possible way.
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