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Shinjuku to Lake Kawaguchiko Day Trip: Which Ticket to Buy and What to Do If the Ropeway Closes

A day trip from Shinjuku to Lake Kawaguchiko, planned for families travelling with children of different ages. Which station to use, which ticket to buy, what to do when the ropeway is closed by wind.

Who this route is for

  • Families with a mix of ages — a baby or toddler, an elementary-age child, and a teenager — who need one route that works for all three without splitting up.
  • Visitors without a car. Everything below uses the express bus or the direct train from Shinjuku, plus one loop bus on the lake.
  • People who want a decision made in advance, not on the day. Mount Fuji is often hidden by cloud, and the ropeway stops in strong wind. This route is built so that bad weather changes how long you stay somewhere, not where you go.

It is not a good fit if you want to spend the day at the Fuji-Q Highland amusement park, or if you cannot leave Shinjuku before about 07:30.

Decide first: how you get back, not what you see

There are two direct options from Shinjuku. The travel times are almost the same. The real difference is price and whether the arrival time is reliable.

Highway bus (Fujikyu Bus) Limited express “Fuji Excursion”
Adult, one way From 2,200 yen. 2,000 yen if you pay online 4,200 yen (2,580 yen base fare + 1,620 yen express fee)
Child, one way From 1,100 yen (half fare, rounded up to the nearest 10 yen) Child fares apply — check the amount on the booking screen
Journey time About 1 hour 45 minutes to Kawaguchiko Station 1 hour 53 minutes at fastest
Frequency Many departures through the day 4 round trips daily (an extra train runs on some dates)
Where you board Busta Shinjuku — 4th-floor bus terminal, directly connected to the south exit of Shinjuku Station Shinjuku Station
Booking opens One month before, same date One month before, from 10:00
Booking closes 30 minutes before the first departure of that service Any time seats remain
If it runs late Road traffic varies. No refund is given for delays Not affected by road traffic

The station part that confuses visitors

Shinjuku Station and Busta Shinjuku are not the same place, but they are connected. Busta Shinjuku is the highway bus terminal on the 4th floor above the south exit. With a stroller, use the lifts rather than the stairs and allow 15 extra minutes — Shinjuku Station is very large and signage inside the concourse is dense.

The Fuji Excursion train leaves from the JR platforms inside Shinjuku Station itself. It runs through to Kawaguchiko with no transfer. That matters if you are carrying luggage, a folded stroller, and a tired child at the same time: the usual alternative route requires changing trains at Otsuki.

Total cost for one adult, added up

Transport and rides only. Museum admission and meals are not included.

Item A: train both ways B: bus both ways (online payment) C: bus out, train back
Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko 4,200 yen 2,000 yen 2,000 yen
Kawaguchiko to Shinjuku 4,200 yen 2,000 yen 4,200 yen
Loop bus 1-day pass 1,500 yen 1,500 yen 1,500 yen
Ropeway, return 1,000 yen 1,000 yen 1,000 yen
Sightseeing boat 1,000 yen 1,000 yen 1,000 yen
Total 11,900 yen 7,500 yen 9,700 yen

Option C is the one to consider with children. For 2,200 yen more than the cheapest plan, you fix the time you get back to Shinjuku. If you have a Shinkansen, an airport transfer, or a hotel check-in waiting that evening, an unrefundable traffic delay with a tired toddler is the expensive outcome, not the train fare.

One constraint: the Fuji Excursion runs only 4 round trips a day and tickets go on sale one month ahead at 10:00. In busy seasons they sell out that morning. If you want the train home, book it a month in advance or plan option B from the start.

Getting around the lake: the loop bus pass

From Kawaguchiko Station, the Red Line (Lake Kawaguchiko loop) runs every 15 minutes and takes about 57 minutes for the full circuit. The Green Line (Lake Saiko loop) runs every 30 minutes, about 75 minutes per circuit.

Free coupons: 1-day pass 1,500 yen for adults, 750 yen for children; 2-day pass 2,000 yen and 1,000 yen. Buy at Kawaguchiko Station (06:30–19:00), Fujisan Station (08:50–17:00), Yamanakako Asahigaoka Bus Terminal (09:00–16:00), online, or on board — on board, only the 1-day pass is sold.

The route below uses the Red Line four times, so the 1-day pass is the sensible choice. Because the line is a loop, you never double back: station, south shore, north shore, station.

Sample day

Time Where How you move Slack
07:15 Leave Busta Shinjuku Highway bus, about 1h45m —
09:00 Arrive Kawaguchiko Station. Buy the 1-day loop pass On foot 15 min
09:20 To “Yuransen / Ropeway Iriguchi” stop Red Line, every 15 min 15 min
09:40–10:30 Mt. Fuji Panoramic Ropeway and Tenjoyama Park On foot 20 min
10:40–11:10 Lake Kawaguchiko sightseeing boat “Appare”, about 20 min afloat On foot 10 min
11:20 To the north shore (Kawaguchi area) Red Line 15 min
12:00–13:00 Lunch: Houtou Fudou Kawaguchiko Kitahonten On foot 20 min
13:15–14:15 Kawaguchiko Museum of Art Red Line 15 min
14:30–15:40 Oishi Park and Lake Kawaguchi Nature Living Center Red Line 20 min
16:00 Back at Kawaguchiko Station — —
17:00–18:00 Depart for Shinjuku Bus or Fuji Excursion —

The “slack” column is deliberate. With children, one missed bus should not break the day. Section times between individual loop-bus stops are not published on the pages checked for this article — the schedule above is built from the published 57-minute circuit and 15-minute frequency, so confirm your actual departures on the official timetable before you go.

How each stop works with different ages

Mt. Fuji Panoramic Ropeway and Tenjoyama Park

Three minutes from the base station to the summit. Return fare 1,000 yen for adults, 500 yen for children; one way 600 yen and 300 yen. “Child” means elementary school age and above. One child below elementary age travels free per accompanying adult. Open 08:30–17:00 normally (last descent 17:20), and 08:30–18:00 from 20 July to 31 August (last descent 18:20). Disability certificate holders pay half.

At the summit: a scenic swing, a viewing tower (roughly 09:30–16:00), a bell, a small rabbit shrine, and kawarake disc throwing.

  • Baby or toddler: the ride itself is short and enclosed. The summit area has slopes and steps, so a carrier is easier than a stroller up top.
  • Elementary age: this is usually the best stop of the day — the swing, the tower and the disc throwing are all things to do, not just look at.
  • Teenager: the summit is the strongest photo point on the route, which is often what makes a family day trip worth it to them.

It closes for lightning, strong wind, sudden gusts, tornadoes and hail. This is why the ropeway is scheduled first, while the day is still flexible.

Sightseeing boat “Appare”

A 20-minute circuit, departing every 30 minutes. 1,000 yen for adults (junior high school age and above), 500 yen for elementary school children, free for pre-school children. Operating 09:00–16:30 normally, 09:00–17:30 during Golden Week and summer, 09:30–16:00 in winter.

The boat pier is close to the ropeway base, so doing both together saves one bus leg. Twenty minutes is short enough for a toddler who has just come down from the summit, and it is fully sheltered if it is only lightly raining.

Lunch: Houtou Fudou Kawaguchiko Kitahonten

Houtou is the local Yamanashi noodle dish — flat wheat noodles simmered in miso broth with vegetables. Open 11:00–19:00, no closing day, but service ends when the noodles run out. The main dish, fudou houtou, is 1,210 yen. Other items: simmered offal, horse sashimi, inari sushi, assorted pickles, kimchi, rice. Address: 707 Kawaguchi, Fujikawaguchiko. Parking for 70 cars and 10 buses. About 15 minutes by bus from Kawaguchiko Station.

Practical notes for families. The dish arrives extremely hot in an iron pot and needs several minutes to cool before a small child can eat it — order and then let it stand. Many restaurants of this type in Japan have tatami seating where you take your shoes off at the edge of the raised floor; slip-on shoes make this much faster with children. No reservation system is stated on the official tourism listing, so if you are likely to arrive after 13:00, swap lunch and the museum around — the route is one-directional, so the swap costs you nothing.

Kawaguchiko Museum of Art

Open 09:30–17:00, last admission 16:30. Closed Tuesdays (but open in July, August and September) and over the New Year period. Special exhibitions: 800 yen for adults and university students, 500 yen for junior and senior high school students, free for elementary school age and under. Collection exhibitions: 500 yen and 300 yen, again free for elementary age and under. Free for disability certificate holders and one accompanying person. Address: 3170 Kawaguchi, Fujikawaguchiko.

This is the weather shelter for the day. It is indoors, it is on the loop, admission is free for younger children, and last admission is late enough at 16:30 that you can still use it after a plan collapses.

Oishi Park and the Nature Living Center

A town park on the north shore. Free, open at all times, facing Mount Fuji across the lake. There are swings, a sandpit, moving play equipment and a slide, plus a shelter, an open field and a drinking fountain. Parking is free and takes large buses.

Three things to know before you go with children:

  • There are no bins in the park. You must carry your rubbish out — this is normal across Japan, so bring a bag for nappies and food waste.
  • The toilets are inside the Lake Kawaguchi Nature Living Center, not standalone in the park. Check its closing time and work backwards from your bus.
  • The drinking fountain is out of use in winter, from mid-December to the end of March.

Dogs must be leashed and their waste taken away.

Luggage, payment and other practical points

  • Luggage. The Fuji Excursion runs through with no transfer, which is the single biggest advantage for a family with bags and a stroller. The number and price of coin lockers at Kawaguchiko Station could not be confirmed on an official page for this article, so do not build your plan around finding one.
  • Buying the bus ticket. You must have your highway bus ticket 10 minutes before departure. Seating is assigned and you cannot request a specific seat, so a family will not necessarily be seated together — book all seats in one transaction to improve the chance. If you are not on board by departure time, your seat may be given to another passenger.
  • Train tickets. The Fuji Excursion has no non-reserved carriages. You buy either a reserved-seat express ticket or an unreserved-seat ticket (within the Fujikyuko line only, the latter is the sole option). An unreserved-seat ticket means you sit wherever is free — with children, buy reserved seats. Purchase at a JR East ticket office, a reserved-seat ticket machine, a major travel agent, Ekinet, or JR-EAST Train Reservation.
  • Stops on the Fuji Excursion: Shinjuku, Tachikawa, Hachioji, Otsuki, Tsuru-Bunka-Daigaku-mae, Shimoyoshida, Mt. Fuji, Fuji-Q Highland, Kawaguchiko.
  • Payment. Paying for the highway bus online reduces the adult fare from 2,200 yen to 2,000 yen. Assume some smaller places on the route may not take cards, and carry cash for the loop bus pass and the restaurant.

What to do when the plan breaks

Problem What to switch to Effect on the day
Ropeway closed by wind or lightning Do the boat first, then spend the freed time at the art museum Route unchanged, 1,000 yen saved
Heavy rain all day Build the day around the museum (last admission 16:30) and eat near the station. Cut Oishi Park short Removes 70 minutes outdoors
Restaurant has sold out of noodles Eat near Kawaguchiko Station at the end of the day instead Museum and park move earlier
No reserved seats on the train Take the highway bus — the total cost goes down, not up Accept a less predictable arrival time
Roads congested on the way back Change to the Fuji Excursion, or the ordinary train via Otsuki, at Kawaguchiko Station Requires buying a new ticket on the spot
Toddler falls asleep mid-afternoon Stay on the Red Line past your stop and ride the loop A full circuit is about 57 minutes of seated rest

What actually needs booking

Item Booking When
Highway bus, Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko Assigned seating. Book ahead From one month before, until 30 minutes before the first departure
Fuji Excursion Reserved or unreserved-seat express ticket required On sale from 10:00, one month before
Loop bus free coupon Not needed — buy on the day Kawaguchiko Station 06:30–19:00; on board, 1-day pass only
Ropeway Not needed —
Sightseeing boat Not needed, departs every 30 minutes —
Houtou Fudou No reservation system stated. Watch the sell-out —
Kawaguchiko Museum of Art Not needed Closed Tuesdays, except July–September

Check these again before you travel

  • The number and times of Fuji Excursion services on your date — extra services run only on selected days
  • The highway bus timetable and fare. A summer timetable and fare revision took effect on 1 July 2026 for the Shinjuku–Fuji Five Lakes route
  • Ropeway operating status. Maintenance days shorten the last services — the official site announced a shortened schedule on 16–17 September, with the last ascent at 15:00
  • Whether the museum is showing a special exhibition or a collection exhibition on your date — the adult price differs (800 yen against 500 yen)
  • Opening hours of the Lake Kawaguchi Nature Living Center, since it holds the toilets for Oishi Park
  • The seasonal boat timetable — normal, Golden Week and summer, and winter schedules end at different times

FAQ

Will we see Mount Fuji?

Nobody can promise this. The route puts one viewpoint in the morning (the ropeway summit) and one in the afternoon (Oishi Park), so cloud at one time of day does not cost you both chances, and the indoor stop absorbs a full washout.

Is the 1-day loop bus pass worth it?

For this route, yes — it uses the Red Line four times against a 1,500 yen adult pass. If you cut the day down to two bus journeys or fewer, compare the individual section fares on the official timetable instead.

Can we do this with a stroller?

The lakeside stops and the boat are manageable. The ropeway summit has slopes and steps, and Shinjuku Station requires lift-hunting. A carrier for the summit and a stroller for the lakeside is the combination that works. Note again that Oishi Park has no bins and no standalone toilet.

Can we take the bus both ways to save money?

Yes, and it is the cheapest option at 7,500 yen. Avoid it only on a day when you have something time-fixed in the evening, because delays are not refunded.

Is one day enough?

For this loop, yes. Adding Lake Saiko on the Green Line — 30-minute frequency, 75-minute circuit — will cut the Lake Kawaguchiko stops badly. Keep it for a second day and use the 2-day pass at 2,000 yen.

Sources and date checked

Opening hours, fares and services above were confirmed on the following official pages on 6 September 2026. Prices and timetables change; check each page again before you travel.

Date checked: 6 September 2026. This is a planning route built from the official sources listed above, not a personal trip report. No part of it is written as first-hand experience.

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