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Where is Mount Fuji? Its height, the volcano, the last eruption

Japan's highest mountain stands on the border of two prefectures, about 101 km from Tokyo Station, and it is an active volcano under constant watch. Here are the facts that matter.

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Editorial team, mount-fuji-tour.comUpdated October 22, 20266 minutes to read59 sources

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In a nutshell

01Where: On the border of Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures.¹
02From Tokyo: About 101 km from Tokyo Station, to the west-southwest.²
03Height: 3,776 m at Kengamine, its highest point.³
04Volcano: A stratovolcano, continuously monitored by the Japan Meteorological Agency.⁴ ⁵
05Last eruption: The Hoei eruption, which began on 16 December 1707.⁶

Two prefectures and a short trip from Tokyo

Where is Mount Fuji? It rises over Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures in central Japan, and Japan's tourism organization notes that it can be seen from distant Tokyo.¹ The Fuji Five Lakes at its northern foot lie in southeastern Yamanashi near the border with Shizuoka.⁷

The summit sits at 35°21'39" N and 138°43'39" E.⁸ On the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan's calculator, that point is about 101 km from Tokyo Station, with Tokyo lying to the east-northeast; seen from the capital, the mountain stands to the west-southwest.²

In practice that gives a visitor a choice of sides. The north side, Yamanashi, has the lakes, Fujiyoshida and the most popular climbing trail, the Yoshida Trail.⁹ The south and east sides, Shizuoka, have the other trailheads and the coast, where the bullet train between Tokyo and Kansai passes the mountain.¹⁰

Eruption history

How the volcano grew and erupted

5,600-3,700 years ago

The main cone forms

The edifice you see today was built in this period.¹¹
800 to 802

Enryaku eruption

One of the large historical eruptions in the catalogue.¹²
864

Jogan eruption

Lava split the Senoumi into Lake Shoji and Lake Sai.¹³
16 December 1707

Hoei eruption begins

A Plinian eruption on the southeast flank.⁶
Same day

Ash on Edo

At Kawasaki the ash lay 5 cm deep.¹⁴
15 March 2011

M6.4 earthquake

An earthquake shook the southern foot of the volcano.¹⁵

Its height, measured at Kengamine

How tall is Mount Fuji? The official figure is 3,776 m, measured at Kengamine, the highest point on the crater rim, which is the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan's measuring point.³ The Japan Meteorological Agency describes it as the highest mountain in Japan.⁴

The climbing site gives the same 3,776 m and stresses what that height means: temperature falls by about 0.6 °C for every 100 m, and even in summer the summit can be as cold as mid-winter.¹⁶ ¹⁷ The agency's summit station records an annual mean of -5.9 °C.¹⁸

The mountain is also big at its base, far bigger than the cone suggests from a distance. The agency gives an approximate volume of 400 km3 for the whole edifice, including the older volcanoes buried inside it, on a base 50 km across.¹⁹ Seen from far away, that broad base and the even slopes above it make the silhouette easy to recognize, whether from a train window, a Tokyo tower or a lake shore.

How far

Straight-line distance from the summit, in km

Geodesic distances from the summit (Kengamine) on the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan's calculator, rounded to the nearest kilometer.²⁰ ²¹ ² ²²

Key facts

Fuji in figures

Fact	Figure	Source
Height at Kengamine	3,776 m	Japan Meteorological Agency
Type	Stratovolcano	Japan Meteorological Agency
Flank eruption sites	more than 100	Japan Meteorological Agency
Last eruption	16 December 1707	Japan Meteorological Agency
World Heritage	2013, 25 parts	JNTO, Fujikyu Railway
Summit, yearly mean	-5.9 °C	Japan Meteorological Agency
Climbers each summer	roughly 300,000	JNTO

From the Japan Meteorological Agency's volcano catalogue and climate normals, the Japan National Tourism Organization and the Fujikyu Railway.³ ⁴ ²³ ⁶ ²⁴ ²⁵ ¹⁸ ²⁶

Three ways to meet the volcano

See it, stand on it or climb it

Easiest

From the lakes

A day at its northern foot

Where: Five Lakes, Oshino
When: All year
Effort: Easy walks

On the mountain

At a 5th station

Where the road ends

Height: about 2,300 m
When: Most of the year
Effort: Short strolls

Summer only

To the summit

A climb with a hut night

Height: 3,776 m
When: July to September
Effort: Hard climb

Decision helper

What do you want from the volcano?

Pick the experience that fits your trip

I want the classic view I want to see eruption traces I want to stand high on it I want the summit I want culture with it

The lakes at its foot

The Five Lakes lie at the northern base in Yamanashi.⁷

The lakes and ponds

Lava from 864 split the Senoumi into Lake Shoji and Lake Sai.¹³

A 5th station

The Subaru Line station stands at about 2,300 m.²⁷

A summer climb

In 2026 the main trail opened 1 July to 10 September.²⁸

Sengen shrines and Oshino

Both are parts of the World Heritage site.²⁴

In 1707 a Plinian eruption on the southeastern flank caused a large amount of ash fall towards Edo to damage seriously.

Japan Meteorological AgencySource 29

A volcano built on older volcanoes

Is Mount Fuji a volcano? Yes. The Japan Meteorological Agency classes Fujisan as a stratovolcano that overlies older volcanoes, Komitake and Kofuji, and lists it among the volcanoes it monitors continuously.⁴ ⁵ The volcano has more than 100 flank eruption sites as well as its summit crater.²³

The cone you see is young in geological terms. According to the agency, the main edifice was built roughly 5,600 to 3,700 years ago, and in the last 2,300 years its activity has consisted of fissure eruptions on the flanks.¹¹ ³⁰

Being active does not mean being dangerous every day. It means that the volcano has erupted in historical times, can erupt again, and is watched by instruments around the clock. For a visitor, the practical step is simple: check the official climbing site and the news before you go up the mountain, as you would check the weather. A day at the lakes is planned around the weather far more often than around the volcano, but it costs nothing to look.

Map

From Tokyo to the lakes and the trailheads of Fuji

First the whole way from Tokyo with Hakone and Kamakura, then the five lakes at the north foot, then the four 5th stations around the summit.

Map from Tokyo Station and Shinjuku to Mount Fuji, Kawaguchiko, Owakudani in Hakone and the Great Buddha of Kamakura — Tokyo to Fuji

Map of the Fuji Five Lakes with Oshino Hakkai, the Chureito Pagoda, Oishi Park and Kawaguchiko Station — The five lakes

Map of the summit of Mount Fuji with the Subaru Line, Fujinomiya, Subashiri and Gotemba 5th stations and the Hoei crater — The trailheads

1
Tokyo Station
Meeting point of the site tour at 8:00 AM, about 101 km in a straight line from the summit.²
In Google Maps ↗
2
Shinjuku
Second meeting point at 8:30 AM; the free 45th-floor observatories of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government stand here.³¹
In Google Maps ↗
3
Kengamine summit
The highest point of Mount Fuji, 3,776 m, on the crater rim.³
In Google Maps ↗
4
Kawaguchiko Station
End of the Fujikyu line, 26.6 km from Otsuki; buses from Shinjuku get here in just under two hours.³² ³³
In Google Maps ↗
5
Owakudani
A 50-minute guided stop of the site tour, reached on the Hakone Ropeway.
In Google Maps ↗
6
Great Buddha, Kamakura
A bronze Buddha some 11.3 m tall, begun in 1252, about 74 km east of the summit.³⁴ ³⁵ ²⁰
In Google Maps ↗
7
Oshino Hakkai
Eight spring ponds, a national natural monument since 1934 and part of the World Heritage site.³⁶
In Google Maps ↗
8
Lake Yamanaka swan shore
Lake Yamanaka is the nearest lake to Fuji; the site tour stops 20 minutes at its swan shore.³⁷
In Google Maps ↗
9
Chureito Pagoda
Up 398 steps in Arakurayama Sengen Park, about 25 minutes on foot from Shimoyoshida Station.³⁸ ³⁹
In Google Maps ↗
10
Oishi Park
A Lake Kawaguchi park where Fuji rises behind lavender in early summer.⁴⁰
In Google Maps ↗
11
Lake Sai
Split off an older lake by the lava of the Jogan eruption of 864.¹³
In Google Maps ↗
12
Lake Shoji
The smallest of the Fuji Five Lakes, known for its Upside-down Fuji reflection.⁴¹ ⁴²
In Google Maps ↗
13
Lake Motosu
The deepest of the five lakes and the view on the 1,000-yen note.⁴³ ⁴⁴
In Google Maps ↗
14
Subaru Line 5th Station
Start of the Yoshida Trail at 2,305 m, with the climbers' gate and Komitake Shrine.⁴⁵ ⁴⁶ ⁴⁷
In Google Maps ↗
15
Fujinomiya trailhead
Trailhead at 2,400 m on the shortest route to the summit.⁴⁸ ⁴⁹
16
Subashiri 5th Station
Trailhead at 2,000 m; in 2026 the Subashiri Trail opened on 1 July.⁵⁰ ⁵¹
In Google Maps ↗
17
Gotemba New 5th Station
Trailhead at 1,440 m; the way up is 10.5 km, about 9 hours.⁵²
In Google Maps ↗
18
Hoei crater
The southeast-flank crater of the eruption that began on 16 December 1707.⁶
In Google Maps ↗

Open the map in Google Maps

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Video

The last time Mount Fuji erupted, and what might happen next

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The 1707 Hoei eruption

The last Mount Fuji eruption began on 16 December 1707 on the southeast flank, at what is now the Hoei crater.⁶ The agency describes it as a Plinian eruption that sent a large amount of ash towards Edo, the old name of Tokyo, and seriously damaged the region.²⁹

Ash fell on Edo on the first day; at Kawasaki it lay 5 cm deep.¹⁴ The eruptions continued on and off until the end of the month, and the agency rates the event VEI 5, with 0.7 km3 of magma.⁵³ ⁵⁴ The crater is still visible on the southeast slope.⁶

Since then the mountain has been quiet on the surface, though not entirely still. The agency records an M6.4 earthquake at the southern foot on 15 March 2011.¹⁵ The large eruptions in the catalogue reach back to the years 800 to 802, so the mountain's moods are recorded over a long span of written history.¹² Its catalogue lists the large historical eruptions as the Enryaku eruption of 800 to 802, the Jogan eruption of 864 and the Hoei eruption of 1707.¹²

How the eruptions shaped the lakes

Fuji's eruptions did more than add height. The Jogan eruption of 864 poured out the lava now called the Aokigahara lava, and the flow that reached the northwest split an older lake, the Senoumi, into Lake Shoji and Lake Sai.¹³ That single event gave the lakes district part of its present shape.

The springs of Oshino Hakkai tell a related story. The Oshino basin was once a lake that dried out, leaving ponds fed by the mountain's groundwater; the ponds became a national natural monument in 1934.⁵⁵ ³⁶ Standing beside them, you are looking at water that fell as rain and snow on the volcano and filtered through its rock before rising again at its foot.

That is why a day at the foot of the mountain is also a day on the volcano. The lakes, the lava fields of the forest and the clear spring ponds are all products of its eruptions, and the tours that visit them show you Fuji's work even when the summit is hidden in cloud.

A sacred mountain and a World Heritage site

In 2013 the mountain became a World Heritage Site.²⁵ The UNESCO property, Fujisan, sacred place and source of artistic inspiration, comprises 25 separate areas, including the Fuji Five Lakes, Sengen shrines, Oshino Hakkai and the pine grove of Miho-no-Matsubara, and it includes pilgrim routes up the mountain.²⁴ ⁵⁶

Much of Fuji's status as the symbol of Japan comes from art: Japan's tourism organization credits the ukiyo-e prints of Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) and Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858).⁵⁷ At its northern foot, Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine holds the mountain-opening ceremony every year on 1 July.⁵⁸

Those are the Mount Fuji facts most visitors never hear on a coach. They make a good thread for a day at the lakes: ask your guide about them at Oshino Hakkai, where the ponds were once a pilgrimage site for the believers who climbed the mountain.⁵⁹

Seeing it for yourself

Climbing to the summit is possible only in the summer season; in 2026 the Yoshida Trail was open from 1 July to 10 September.²⁸ Japan's tourism organization counts roughly 300,000 climbers each summer.²⁶ Our guide to the hike explains the trails, the fee and the rules, including the night gate and the daily limit on the busiest trail.

For most visitors the foot of the mountain is the goal. Our featured tour spends a day from Tokyo at Hakone, Lake Yamanaka and Oshino Hakkai, takes 10 hours and starts from $54. Its operator states that the view of the summit depends on the weather and is not guaranteed.

Whichever way you go, the numbers on this page help you read the landscape: the 1707 crater on the southeast slope, the lakes split by lava in 864, and a summit that, at 3,776 m, stands a long way above the lakes you are standing beside.⁶ ¹³ ³

Your day at Fuji