First Motorcycle Ride to Mt Fuji! — Route, Tips & What to Expect

It is quite crazy to think back now, that my first “long distance” motorcycle tour, immediately after getting the <400cc license, was a solo day-trip motorcycle ride directly to Mt Fuji, Yamanaka-no-ko (山中湖) on my CBR 250RR.

If you are planning to ride in Japan, you’ll need to understand the licensing process — here’s my full guide to getting a motorcycle license in Japan in both PART 1 and PART 2.

Getting there — Route from Tokyo to Yamanaka-ko

I started out around 9:30am and it took 2.5 hours through the Tomei Highway. I took a rest stop at around off the Tomei to stop at the convenience store (where I saw many other bikers take a rest stop). It is pretty nice to have other riders along the way, although I was going at a much slower pace at around ~100kmph. Others were going at >130kmph when the speed limit in Japan is actually only 80kmph!

As I got off Tomei and headed over to Route 138, the view cleared up and Mt Fuji appeared!

Lunch at Yamanaka-ko

I got pretty hungry when I arrived (nervous!). I had a good lunch at The Park (linked above) because they had a small parking space right next to their store (although it is for cars but I just stopped there…). There are plenty of small cafes littered all around the lake so do not be worried. But it might be wise to park at a parking lot and walk towards somewhere close. Beware of fast cars and motorcycles from the oncoming traffic!

Touge riding — Mikuni Toge and Myojinyama Panorama

Mikuni Toge is just next to Yamanaka-no-ko. After relaxing and sightseeing around the lake, I headed over for some twisties, of course . From Yamanaka-no-ko, head south to Mikuni-toge and on the way you will stop by Myojinyama Panorama Area (a viewing stop with parking lot) — there were some tourists here stopping by and taking pictures but nothing overwhelming.

Unfortunately, I dropped my bike at the parking lot entrance as there was a small gap… the first ride was tiring ); I was so touched when two other motorcyclists came to help me, and even helped me fix my shift pedal that has bent during the fall. I learnt the importance of bringing basic tools when going on relatively far, long trips.

After the Toge, head back down for a photo next to the lake at Hirano Beach

Pretty self-explanatory, there is a parking lot there that is great for pictures (the banner photo of this post). There are swan boats rental if you are interested, and actually many real swans that are hanging by the lake. In the summer you can find people doing water sports which is also pretty cool to see. I got a photo from a kind shop keeper selling icecream next to the lake. If you happen to see his store, please check it out!

The road back to Tokyo — leave before 3pm

I started to head back at around 4pm and honestly it was a little too late. The sun started to set at around 5pm and the highway was getting hard to see (no lights). Tomei is very crowded after 5pm on weekends and that was my biggest lessons learnt. Everyone headed back from Yamanashi, Hakone and Nagano take the same route back to Tokyo on the weekend. I was not confident enough to do lane splitting and it took 2-2.5x the amount of time back.

Even when lane splitting, it will take 1.5x the time and it was stressful. So I recommend heading back to Tokyo before 4pm next time. (;

My first solo motorcycle ride to Mt Fuji was definitely the most memorable, even as I am sure I will continue to take this route many times in the future.