I'd like to share some good experiences in the Mt. Fuji area, at Mt. Mitutouge/Mitsutoge. On the 3rd of July, I went there to find a Japanese Leaf Warbler and scored in 15 minutes. Two more territories were discovered later on. Remarkably, there was also a Japanese Night Heron at the first site!
The birds were discovered soon after leaving the main road, and walking towards the Mt. Mitutouge/Mitsutoge trailhead. Scoring early left me whole morning of relaxed birding higher up the side road. There were plenty of other birds and mammals there, including macaques.
All in all, it was a perfect day in a perfect, sunny weather. The only negative feature were the crowds of Mt. Fuji tourists at the Kawaguchiko train station. The station is not spacious enough to handle such an invasion.
It is perhaps worth mentioning that I did not have any local guidance in this project. The location was chosen according to satellite image analysis (altitude, habitats) and bird atlas information (in regard to the warbler).
Practicalities:
- On weekends, there currently are direct bullet trains between Narita (Airport) and Kawaguchiko (yen 10.000 return, 30% reduction by a three-day Wider Tokyo Train Pass). It is 3h ride, slow especially towards the end.
- At Kawaguchiko (next to Mt. Fuji), I stayed at Sawa Hotel, for a low Agoda rate (around yen 3.500), reserved alredy in March. In Narita, I stayed at Nikko Narita, with a similar budget arrangement (there is a Lawson's at the ground floor).
- Taxi to Misake-michi Road access (a narrow tarmac road leading a Mt. Mitsutoge trailhead, at the easternmost sharp point of the meandering lower road, east of a major tunnel) cost yen 4.000 at 4.40 in the morning. There are no early buses up the mountain.
- One could return to Kawaguchiko train station either by taxi or ask for a bus ride (many tourist buses visit the start of the access side road later in the day).
The birds were discovered soon after leaving the main road, and walking towards the Mt. Mitutouge/Mitsutoge trailhead. Scoring early left me whole morning of relaxed birding higher up the side road. There were plenty of other birds and mammals there, including macaques.
All in all, it was a perfect day in a perfect, sunny weather. The only negative feature were the crowds of Mt. Fuji tourists at the Kawaguchiko train station. The station is not spacious enough to handle such an invasion.
It is perhaps worth mentioning that I did not have any local guidance in this project. The location was chosen according to satellite image analysis (altitude, habitats) and bird atlas information (in regard to the warbler).
Practicalities:
- On weekends, there currently are direct bullet trains between Narita (Airport) and Kawaguchiko (yen 10.000 return, 30% reduction by a three-day Wider Tokyo Train Pass). It is 3h ride, slow especially towards the end.
- At Kawaguchiko (next to Mt. Fuji), I stayed at Sawa Hotel, for a low Agoda rate (around yen 3.500), reserved alredy in March. In Narita, I stayed at Nikko Narita, with a similar budget arrangement (there is a Lawson's at the ground floor).
- Taxi to Misake-michi Road access (a narrow tarmac road leading a Mt. Mitsutoge trailhead, at the easternmost sharp point of the meandering lower road, east of a major tunnel) cost yen 4.000 at 4.40 in the morning. There are no early buses up the mountain.
- One could return to Kawaguchiko train station either by taxi or ask for a bus ride (many tourist buses visit the start of the access side road later in the day).
