Fuji in winter: peak viewing

Winter is reputed as the best season to view Mt. Fuji. The cold, clear weather means you’re less likely to experience disappointing cloud cover and more than likely to see the peak submerged in snow.

Don’t let the cold put you off: at HOSHINOYA Fuji, you’ll not only have first-rate views of the mountain from your room; you’ll also be able to take part in outdoor activities that make the most of the clear skies while keeping you snug and warm.

Fuji unobscured

When you’ve travelled thousands of miles to see Fuji, there’s no greater disappointment than finding it shrouded in cloud. In summer, this happens a lot. Statistics from 2017 show that Japan’s most celebrated mountain was not visible at all for 27 days in July. In December, that figure went down to just a single day. Stay during winter and the numbers are on your side.

And if you book yourself into HOSHINOYA Fuji, you’ll have the mountain as your constant backdrop. The resort is set above Lake Kawaguchi, offering stunning unobstructed views of Mt. Fuji reflected in the water.

What’s more, every single room is a luxury cabin centred on this view, with huge south-facing windows and a large balcony (complete with kotatsu heated table) designed to let you fully appreciate the panorama.

Embracing winter

As a guest at HOSHINOYA Fuji, you’ll have a wealth of winter activities to choose from. The resort prides itself on its glamping experience, combining a taste of the great outdoors with luxury rooms, cuisine and comfort.

How about treating yourself to an outdoor dinner of freshly-prepared game while snuggling up under a kotatsu table?

Or smoking your own food over a wood fire? Alternatively, you can leave behind the stresses of the modern world and go Digital Detox during your entire stay.

Technology-free

The aim of the Digital Detox program is to reconnect with nature, refocus on timeless traditions, and rejuvenate your body and mind.

How?

By banishing all things digital. Choose this program and you’ll be asked to give up your smartphone, laptop and other devices as soon as you arrive at HOSHINOYA Fuji.

For the rest of your stay, all that matters is the here and now – and there could be few better places to embrace the present moment than HOSHINOYA Fuji.

Set in a forest in the northern foothills of Fuji, the resort is spread over terraced levels linked by stairs.

In this natural environment, you’ll rediscover the simple pleasure of chopping wood and making a bonfire under the guidance of the resort’s “Glamping Masters”.

Your guide will tell you about the different types of firewood and how to smoke meat over an open fire.

And at night, you’ll be driven to a secluded spot on the banks of nearby Lake Saiko to put your outdoor skills into practice: stoking a fire, cooking meat and enjoying hot soup and whisky while your guide tells you about the planets and constellations in the star-filled sky.

Winter wining & dining

If you’d prefer to stay onsite at HOSHINOYA Fuji, you can sign up for a food smoking workshop. Choose from a range of wood chips to flavour your smoked food, including local whisky barrels and Fuji cherry blossoms.

A Glamping Master will then guide you to smoke the likes of local fish, deer-meat sausages, nuts and dried fruit. And you’ll be invited to wash it all down with a Japanese whisky.

Or how about al fresco dining in the forest, with your legs warming under that most Japanese of inventions: the kotatsu heated table? At the resort’s Forest Kitchen, you’ll be seated at a table surrounded by trees.

Using a gas stove, you’ll cook your own gourmet dinner with the help of staff. Or you can recreate the hunter’s lifestyle of yore, gathering around a bonfire to eat venison and winter vegetables cooked in a pot over the flames.

Cloud Terrace

Whether you choose Digital Detox, a smoking workshop or the hunter’s meal, the best way to finish the day is at the resort’s Cloud Terrace. Sit down around the bonfire and gaze up at the cloudless sky or pick up a board game to play under a kotatsu while sipping a warm cocktail.

Then head back to your cabin for a last glimpse of Mt. Fuji by night – before waking up to the same unforgettable view the next morning.