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The Kawaguchi Lake is one of the five great lakes surrounding Mount Fuji. Cycling around the Kawaguchi Lake feels like stepping into a Ghibli film. The lakeside sometimes reminds me of the coastline in the Ponyo movie. This Japan path is just really romantic.
You can rent bikes in a lot of stores in Fujikawaguchiko or there are bikes that you can rent via an app. However, you will have to look a little bit for stores that have bikes for kids. We got our bikes close to the Kawaguchi Station. When you cycle around the lake starting in Funatsu of Fujikawaguchiko, then you will pass over the nice Ohashi bridge. The cool thing about this bicycle tour is that you always have a great view on the majestic Fuji-san.
For a guide on how to get to Lake Kawaguchi from Tokyo checkout the corresponding section in our 3-weeks Japan summer itinerary.
Cycling around Lake Kawaguchi: Music Forest Museum
On the other side of the lake you will pass by a small music forest museum. It is really beautiful and there you will have the opportunity to buy some Ghibli souvenirs. Besides puzzles and pictures, they have a great variety of small music boxes with all the major Ghibli soundtracks. Children can paint and decorate the music boxes themselves. They also have a stamp hunt and you can rent prince & princess dresses and jewelry.
Cycling around Lake Kawaguchi: Oishi village, Fuji-views and other sights
When you go on, then the path will lead to other cute villages including Oishi village with the famous Oishi Park and one of the most iconic views on Fuji-san.
In-between villages there are sections where on your left is the lake with the Fuji view and on your right is deep forest. In the forest you might spot little toriis leading to small shrines right in the forest which feels kind of mystical.
At some point there are also camping grounds on the lakeside. The Japanese really love camping and some of their tents were the nicest tents that I ever saw😊 Along the lake are actually a lot more sites like the Sakuya Bell of Love, but we could not enjoy all of them, because our daughter wanted to make some mileage without stopping every 100 meters for photos😊 People drive by taxi to some of the spots only to take a few photos and then go back. At the end of the trip when you arrive in Funatsu again, then you will also pass by the Fuji Omuro Sengen Shrine which is very intimately embedded within a forest, but through the trees you can see the lake.
What else to do & where to stay at Lake Kawaguchi?
Fujikawaguchi is in general a great place to stay. There you also have the famous Lawson with the Fuji view😄, a very big matsuri in summer with 55 minutes of fireworks, the Arayama Sengen Park with an iconic view on the Fuji with a nice pagoda and Sakura trees, and the Fuji Q Highland Park. Find out more on my post about where to go next from Tokyo.
Klook.comWe recommend to stay in one of the onsen hotels right at the lakeside. Our favorite is the Kawaguchiko Hotel. If you like it a little more traditional with Tatami mattresses and Futons (also the cheaper option), then we recommend you K‘s House Fuji View which is a hostel chain with a few hostels all over Japan.
Arigato gozaimasu for reading.
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Ghibli-style photo of the blog post title
