Feature Article

The 5th Station Is a Natural Planetarium!
Hidden Spots Around Mt. Fuji That Dazzle All Five Senses — No Climbing Required

"The Gotemba New 5th Station sits at 1,440 meters above sea level. There are actually so many breathtaking views here that you don't need to go any higher," says Takajika-san with a smile.

For example, the star-filled sky you can see from the 5th Station parking lot in the middle of the night. The clean air of the Gotemba route turns the sky into a natural planetarium — the Milky Way is clearly visible to the naked eye. Visit early in the morning and you'll be rewarded with a spectacular sea of clouds stretching below you, plus sweeping panoramas all the way to the Hakone mountain range.

From a Trail Running Mecca to Music Festivals and a Buzzing Night Scene —
Major Events That Color Gotemba

The Gotemba Trail has long harbored its own unique culture of running the mountain. The "Mt. Fuji Ekiden Relay Race," held every year in the first week of August, is Japan's oldest Mt. Fuji race — a round trip from within Gotemba City all the way to the summit. The 5th Station is packed with spectators eager to watch runners hurtle down the famous "Great Sand Run" at breathtaking speed.

Building on this traditional running culture, Region Port has developed it into a full slate of modern events. Every late April, they serve as co-representatives of "Mt.FUJI 100," a trail running race that draws large numbers of participants from across Japan and around the world. The runners aren't just remarkably fit — they also pick up litter on the mountain and help struggling hikers, making them cherished partners of the Gotemba Trail community.

And the efforts to energize the area don't stop at the mountain.

It All Started with a Single Tent.
The Role of the Trail Station in Connecting Mountain and Town — and Keeping People Safe

The hub connecting all of this activity is the Trail Station (affectionately called "Toreste"), a community space at the Gotemba New 5th Station.

Today it attracts roughly 80,000 visitors per year — tourists, hikers, and trail runners alike — but in 2013, the year Mt. Fuji was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, there was truly nothing here. Determined to change that and warmly welcome visitors from around the world, Takajika-san and Yamaguchi-san consulted with local authorities and launched operations from a bare minimum of "a single tent and a few chairs," running for just nine days. Every day, they would head up to the 5th Station at 2 a.m. to set up the tent, then take it down again in the evening — grueling work they kept up day after day. The raw dedication moved visitors to respond with heartfelt words of gratitude, and that eventually led to today's permanent station.

Today's Trail Station is both a warm community hub — drawing fans who come from across Japan year after year just to visit — and a frontline guardian of safe climbing. One of its most valuable tools is the "Imafuji" data, which visualizes real-time mountain weather conditions.

"Because the Gotemba New 5th Station is at a relatively low elevation, the conditions here are often calm and sunny. But when I show visitors the Imafuji screen and explain concretely, 'Right now the summit has winds of 20 meters per second — it's this dangerous,' even lightly equipped inbound tourists and first-timers respond with, 'Okay, let's skip it this time.' Imafuji's data is incredibly powerful for talking people out of reckless climbs and keeping them safe."