Kachikachi Ropeway Travel Guide

Beautiful views of Mt. Fuji are the main draw at this historic mountain, which is the setting for a particularly gruesome piece of Japanese folklore.

Nearby Food Experiences

Nearby Restaurants

SEAT RESERVATION
YAMANASHI

Koushu Sumibiyaki Dining Kawaguchiko

Indulge in authentic izakaya dining at Koushu Sumibiyaki near Lake Kawaguchi, delight in yakitori and local flavorful cuisine in Fujikawaguchiko.

Dinner: ¥4,000-5,000
SEAT RESERVATION
YAMANASHI

Alladin Indo Restaurant

Alladin Indo Restaurant will serve you authentic Indian curries, tandoori chicken, fluffy naan, and more!

Lunch: ¥1,000-1,999
Dinner: ¥1,000-1,999
SEAT RESERVATION
YAMANASHI

Cafe & Dining MONO

At Cafe & Dining MONO, you can enjoy Japanese pork loin shabu shabu for a reasonable price near Lake Kawaguchiko.

Lunch: ¥1,000-1,999
Dinner: ¥1,000-1,999
SEAT RESERVATION
YAMANASHI

Lake Side Café Ku

At Lake Side Cafe Ku, you can have relaxing cafe time with the beautiful scenery of Lake Kawaguchiko just outside the window.

Lunch: ¥1,000-1,999
Dinner: ¥1,000-1,999

The most easily accessible of Mt. Fuji’s spectacular five lakes is Kawaguchiko, reachable in just a few hours from central Tokyo. The area’s biggest claim to fame is its spectacular viewpoints for Mt. Fuji, the best of which can be found perched 220m high, at the top of Mt. Tenjo on the lake’s eastern flank.

Sure, you could spend 45 minutes hiking up the trail to the summit, but there’s really no need when the Kachikachi Ropeway can do all the hard work for you. The base station is located among a cluster of hotels and restaurants on the southeast shore of Kawaguchiko, just a short walk from the town’s station.

At the top, you won’t just find expansive views of Fuji-san towering in the distance, but also some historic cultural attractions too. The Bell of Tenjo is said to grant wishes to those who ring it while looking at Mt. Fuji.

The mountain is also the site of a famous Japanese legend about a feud between a murderous tanuki and an especially sadistic rabbit. The story goes that the tanuki tricked a farmer into eating his own wife, so the couple’s friendly neighborhood rabbit set out to get back at the tanuki by any means necessary.

These included, but were not limited to, burning, a bee attack, and rubbing pepper in the tanuki’s wounds; Watership Down this ain’t. Eventually the rabbit finally got its revenge when it drowned the tanuki during a boat race. And the moral of the story is… don’t mess with rabbits?

Okay, so maybe it’s not so easy to draw positive messages from Japanese folklore, but the story does add some mythological color to the mountaintop, with statues of the two main characters dotted around the area. The observation deck cafe even sells snacks themed around the tale: a kind of sweet skewer called dango made from balls of crushed rice paste.

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