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The Fujinomiya Trail is the steepest and most dramatic of all Fuji climbing routes, starting higher than any other trailhead and cutting a direct path to the summit crater rim. Shizuoka's side of Fuji feels raw and vertical โ the final ridgeline looms overhead from the moment you arrive at the 5th Station. On a clear morning, the Pacific Ocean glitters far below while the crater opens up in front of you in a scene of extraordinary volcanic scale.
The Izu Peninsula juts into the Pacific like a clenched fist of volcanic rock, its coastline slashed by cliffs, sea caves, and hidden coves that plunge straight into some of the deepest blue water in Japan. Dozens of hot spring towns are scattered across its mountains and shores, fed by geothermal waters that burst from the earth in the most dramatic ocean-facing settings imaginable. From the wild black sand beaches of the west coast to the coral reefs of the south, Izu rewards travellers who venture beyond the famous onsen towns.
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.
The Nishi Izu Skyline is a winding mountain road that traces the spine of the western Izu Peninsula above the clouds, with views that open alternately to Mt Fuji on one side and the Pacific island chain on the other. By bicycle the descent to the west coast is exhilarating โ a series of switchbacks through cedar forest that eventually deliver you to the seafront with the smell of the ocean rushing up to meet you. E-bike rental has made the challenging climbs accessible to all fitness levels, and the quiet roads see little traffic outside summer weekends.
Miho no Matsubara is a long crescent of white sand fringed by centuries-old black pine trees, stretching out with Mt Fuji rising perfectly from the sea on the far horizon. Registered as a UNESCO World Heritage component, this pine grove has been painted and photographed as the definitive image of Japan for over 400 years. At dawn or dusk the combination of glassy sea, ancient pines, and snow-capped Fuji creates a scene of almost unreal beauty.
The clear, ice-cold mountain streams of the Izu Peninsula create perfect conditions for growing real wasabi โ the genuine rhizome that most of the world has never tasted, replaced everywhere by horseradish paste. Izu farms grow wasabi in stepped stream beds shaded by bamboo, and the freshly grated root has a subtle, floral heat that builds slowly and clears the sinuses without burning. Paired with hand-cut soba noodles at a riverside restaurant, this is one of the most rewarding gourmet experiences in all of Japan.
The western Izu coast is Shizuoka's most untamed shore โ a narrow road clings to cliffs above crashing surf, passing through tiny fishing villages where outdoor hot spring baths have been carved directly from the rock face at the ocean's edge. At certain rotenburo you can soak while waves break metres away, the horizon vast and orange at sunset behind a silhouette of volcanic islands. This stretch has no train service and rewards those who arrive by car or motorbike with a sense of genuine remoteness.
Dogashima on the wild west coast of Izu is famed for its cluster of volcanic sea caves โ some of which can be entered by glass-bottom boat tours that glide through sea-carved tunnels while fish dart below the transparent hull. The largest cave has a collapsed roof open to the sky, creating a natural skylight cathedral of rock and sea that fills with turquoise light on sunny days. The surrounding cliffs, eroded into pillars and arches of white tuff, make this one of the most visually dramatic stretches of coastline in Japan.
Ryugenbuchi is a deeply cut volcanic gorge near the Izu Peninsula, where dark columnar basalt cliffs drop straight into churning jade-green water below. The gorge was carved by ancient lava flows meeting the sea, creating a dramatic geological landscape of jagged walls, sea caves, and stacked rock formations. Walking the clifftop path here gives an exhilarating sense of Izu's violent volcanic origins, with ocean swells crashing far beneath your feet.
Hidden in the forested interior of Izu, this atmospheric cedar approach winds between enormous ancient trees whose straight silver trunks disappear into a canopy that filters the light into green columns. Stone lanterns and mossy temple markers line the path, lending the walk a meditative quality that makes it feel genuinely removed from the tourist circuits along the coast. The cedar smell and cool stillness here are extraordinary in every season โ oppressively ancient in midsummer, ghostly in winter mist.
Shiraito Falls is one of Japan's most distinctive waterfalls โ not a single powerful plunge but a wide, lace-like curtain of water seeping from porous volcanic rock and flowing from hundreds of thin threads simultaneously across a 200-metre cliff face. Fed entirely by snowmelt filtered through Mt Fuji's lava layers, the water arrives crystal clear and cold even in midsummer, wreathing the forest below in mist. As a UNESCO World Heritage component it forms part of the Fujisan Cultural Landscape.
Suruga Bay is Japan's deepest bay, plunging to over 2,500 metres โ deeper than most of the open Pacific shelf โ and its cold abyssal waters nurture an extraordinary range of deep-sea creatures found nowhere else in Japan. From the shoreline, particularly around the town of Yui, Mt Fuji fills the entire northwestern sky above the sea, making this one of the most painterly mountain-ocean panoramas on earth. The bay's upwellings bring rich nutrients to the surface, feeding the sakura shrimp and tuna fisheries that define the region's cuisine.
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