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Cherry blossom

Chureito Pagoda: The Most Photographed View of Mount Fuji Is a War Memorial Built in 1962 History
12 min read

Chureito Pagoda: The Most Photographed View of Mount Fuji Is a War Memorial Built in 1962

The vermillion five-story pagoda framing Mount Fuji is on every Japan postcard and Lonely Planet cover. Almost nobody knows it was built in 1962 as a war memorial — or that the famous viewpoint is exactly 398 steps from a small parking lot in Fujiyoshida. Here is everything you need to actually visit.

Mount Fuji's Five Lakes: One Eruption, One Broken Lake, Five Reflections of the Same Volcano History
14 min read

Mount Fuji's Five Lakes: One Eruption, One Broken Lake, Five Reflections of the Same Volcano

Twelve hundred years ago, a single eruption from Mount Fuji split one large lake into five. Those five lakes — Kawaguchiko, Yamanakako, Saiko, Shōjiko, Motosuko — are now Japan's most photographed view of the volcano. Here's which one to visit, what each one shows you, and the story behind why they exist.