Mt Fuji Sea to Summit

Welcome to Japan!

After a long intermission, the 2025 production of I Run Earth is back in Japan! During the break, I had a wonderful holiday with my mom, brother, and sister, got sick, and got a hair cut.

As a reminder, I have a personal project of running 1000 miles on every continent. On May 27, I started running through the Indian Himalaya mountains inspired by the “Great Himalayan Trail” (GHT), a concept of linking the Himalayas together in one thru hike. In 24 days, I covered 379 miles, the great majority of which above 3400m. On June 29, I started running through Japan.

Why am I doing this? To see what I can do, see the earth, and raise money for charity! My runs have raised over $20K for charity since 2024. In this run, I chose to support Rise Against Hunger, which provides school feeding programs across the world. You can learn more about RAH and donate here.

Day 1: June 29 Fuji Sea to Summit

On June 28, I said bye bye to my mom, brother, and sister in Hiroshima. From there, I went to the Hiroshima Peace Museum, which I found quite moving. The clear concise message to not drop nuclear bombs on people resonated with me.

I thought it would be fun to start my Japan run with a climb of Japan’s tallest mountain: Fuji (12389ft). A local tour guide had warned me not to go because it was closed, “I don’t want to have to drive you to the police station.” Despite her strong words, I got in touch with another local guide who assured me that it’s legal to climb the mountain when it’s closed. You just have to carry all your own food and water. That sounded fine to me. They didn’t have vending machines on the mountains in India either. I got on the train in the afternoon.

I arrived in the town of Fuji around 7pm and hung out at McDonald’s for a few hours until 10:30pm.

I touched the ocean at 11pm and then started running with my 20lb pack: food, water, and all my camping gear for the rest of Japan.

I ran on gradually quieter streets until finding myself alone in the forest. Yeesh this is kinda creepy. My first 24 hours running solo through Japan, and I’m worried about stepping on haunted samurai graves or something. (It turns out there is a place called “Suicide Forest” on the other side of Fuji because a lot of people go there to commit suicide.)

I had read a trip report that the trail below 3000ft was no good as of July 2024. This was true, but most of the forest had been logged and replanted in neat rows, and I found it easy enough to pick a line and go straight up without trying to follow a trail.

4 am. Could that silhouette blocking the sky be Mt Fuji?!?

5:22 am. The sun rose, and I got to the good trails. Smooth sailing from here.

6:31am. I got above tree-line and started seeing people. Oh I get it, the parking lot is all the way up here.

7:58am. I’m passing tourists left and right and feeling pretty hardcore for coming from the ocean and carrying all my stuff. Still, these people are tough. Most people are Japanese, over the age of 70, and trudging up the mountain in deferent silence.

Whoa! A trail runner!! I got passed! I am stunned, ashamed, and amazed.

I tried to take a video of the crater and somehow only got this. But yeah I do run earth.

Nice crater

I went up Kengamine, a peak on the crater rim, which looked like the high point to me.

For the descent, I walk around to the northeast point of the crater rim and take a new, less popular trail down.

10:48am. I start to feel thirsty. Knowing there would be no water sources along the trail, I packed 2L to start. I had less than 1L left and didn’t want to drink all of it.

The trail keeps going down forever. A trail runner passes me, the first person I’ve seen since the top. I ask where the next water is? He exclaims, “Oh! Long time!” and takes an unopened bottle of water from his pack to give to me. I explain I still have some water but just wanted to know. He insists he doesn’t need it, and I gratefully drink half right away.

Within an hour, I make it to the forest and start seeing more people again.

12:18pm. I find myself in a full town and look for a nice place to sit and chill.

Vegan Japanese curry. I get up to throw some trash away, and a server comes up to me and says, “Sorry you cannot throw your trash away here. You must take it outside.” I walk outside, trash in both hands, and scour the town for a trash can. I walk down to a public restroom, and a sign reads, “There are no trash facilities on Fuji. Please take your trash home.” Defeated, I return to the restaurant with all my trash.

Before leaving the restaurant, I go to the water dispenser to fill up my bottle. A server comes up and says, “Sorry you cannot fill your bottle here. We sell water bottles downstairs.” Of course, I nod and leave.

I return to the public restroom to fill my water, and there is a sign next to the sink, “Do not drink tap water. All water on Fuji is shipped in from flatland.” I take my filter and fill my bottles anyway. In my exhausted state, I feel like this town is conspiring against me, and I’m eager to get out.

I found some trails on the map and walked towards them. At the edge of the parking lot, I see a walkway with a sign “Warning: Mountain trails after this point.” Great, that’s me. I walk about 10 minutes down before finding a nice shaded spot off the trail covered in pine needles. I set up camp am sleeping by about 2:30pm. I wake up at 3:30pm to eat some cold-soaked ramen, and then go back to sleep.

I’m proud of myself for getting to sleep so fast. I had been sick the past couple days and didn’t want to rekindle it by over-exerting myself.