The easiest way to get to Fuji from Tokyo is on the highway bus from Shinjuku. The last bus departs at 5.50pm, taking two and a half hours to reach the 5th station at Gogome, 2,400 metres up the mountain. Return tickets cost 5,200 yen from the English-speaking staff at the Odakyu Sightseeing Center in Shinjuku Station. You’ll need to book around a week in advance to guarantee a seat at weekends.

The prices once you get to Fuji are almost as high as the summit so buy everything you need before you go. For a night climb, I’d recommend the following:

Two litres of water and enough food for two meals, including high energy snacks like chocolate and bananas. The first bus back to Shinjuku isn’t until 11am, and the cheapest drinks you’ll find in the rest stops are small cups of miso soup or hot chocolate for 400 yen.

Waterproof pants and jacket. You can buy these at 100 yen shops in Tokyo but you’ll need at least three pairs if you do as they split very easily. There’s nowhere to shelter outside of the lodges and you’ll be moved on at busy times if you spend too long inside with just a hot chocolate. Take a pair of cheap gloves as you need to pull yourself over loose rocks using ropes on the way up, though the majority of the climb is a long trudge along man made steps and small stones. I managed to get up and down in running shoes but they were too badly scuffed to ever wear again.

A torch. Including rest stops, the average climber takes around seven hours to get to the top so make sure you’re carrying enough batteries. Other things to consider are a change of clothes, a towel and a hat for the morning descent, as well as altitude sickness tablets and oxygen (which you can buy in bottles from Tokyu Hands in Shinjuku).

Gogome 5th station closes at 9pm. The trails at the top of the mountain get very congested after the Japanese tour groups come out of the lodges just before sunrise so, weather permitting, try to get to the summit with time to spare. If you don’t want to do the climb in one go, you can stay overnight at the rest stops for 5,000 yen.

At 3776 m Mt. Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan. It is also one of the most famous sights in Japan and is often used as the symbol of Japan. This volcano crater may well be the most photographed mountain in the world. From certain angles its conical shape displays almost perfect symmetry. The crater has a distinct circle shape with a diameter of 500 m at the top and around 50 km at the base.

The sight of Mt. Fuji, especially when snow covered and etched against a blue winter or late autumn sky, is unforgettable. However, Mt. Fuji presents a headache for tourists and especially to the independent traveler. Mt. Fuji is shy and only visible on about 50 days each year. Sometimes it is not to be seen for weeks as it hides behind a cloud cover - it may be sunny in Tokyo or Hakone and you would not even know in which direction to look to see the mountain.

During the official climbing season - July and August - Mt. Fuji can easily be reached by bus from Shinjuku station in Tokyo. Traveling time is about 2 hours. Buses are less frequent during other months and are not available from December to April. It takes about 5 hours to climb the mountain and three hours coming down. It can be very crowded on weekends during the official season and resembles walking in a busy station. Up to 400,000 people ascend Mt. Fuji each year - the vast majority during the two official months.

I belong to the school of thought holding that Mt. Fuji is just for viewing but even people who actually climbed the mountain subscribed to the famous Japanese saying that everyone should climb Mt. Fuji but only a fool would do it twice! The summit is above the clouds so a sunrise is guaranteed for people who climbed late night to arrive at the top early morning.

It is easy and generally pleasant to drive from Tokyo to Mt. Fuji, although that is not a very realistic option for the independent foreign traveler. Several web sites with web cameras give you the opportunity to see whether the mountain is actually visible or not before setting out. Several companies offer tours to Mt. Fuji but if the mountain is covered by clouds there is not an awful lot else to see - bookings must be made a day in advance so the web cams don’t help!

With luck you can see Mt. Fuji from the Shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo to Kyoto. It is also possible in good weather to see Mt. Fuji from central Tokyo - not only from high buildings, I once saw it from the fourth floor of the Hotel New Otani. It is also visible from the Akasaka Prince Hotel - phone the front desk and ask if the mountain is visible!