Tom On Day 4 of our Japan Travels, we visited the Lake Kawaguchiko Natural Living Center via the Sightseeing Bus Tour before we checked in at Konansou (湖南庄) Mount Fuji – where we got to enjoy in-room onsen overlooking Mount Fuji! All these while relishing ryokan style dishes served right in our own room! Think yukata, tatami and cute little japanese dishes…ah…
Book with Agoda Here: Fujikawaguchiko
Book with Klook Here: Popular Activities in Tokyo
But first, we were greeted by this view as we woke up from our slumber at Fujizakura Inn…
Thank the Lord for such an amazing view of Mount Fuji – totally revealed before our very eyes! We also observed a little reddish tinge on Mount Fuji as the sun ascended. The Lord’s creation is simply beautiful!
As there was no breakfast provided at Fujizakura Inn, we decided to head out for a morning stroll at 8am to see what we could find. As we strolled around the vicinity of Fujizakura Inn, we saw kids heading to school and old folks going about their morning exercise. This made us remember our schooling days (in uniform) and also think about strolling together (holding hands) when we’re old. The thing is, time flies. Before you know it, we would have finished our studies, get married, have kids, work and retire. But at the end of the day, what is it that is dear to you? To us, being assured of our salvation is the most important. Hm…thoughts from observing others during a morning walk… 😛
As it was still early, there were only 2 choices of breakfast for us. A local fast food restaurant (which we should have tried – because we didn’t get to try one eventually, thinking that we would have time to do so. Reminds us about the “Portuguese Tart incident in Macao“) and Family Mart. Eventually we settled for Family Mart. If you eat in-store, as with 7-11s in Singapore, the staff will heat up the food for you. Surprisingly, the beef bowl was delicious. Tasty but not too salty teriyaki sauce. Yum…
After breakfast, we headed back to Fujizakura Inn for one last hot bath before strolling over to Hotel Konansou (湖南庄) to drop off our bags (about 15 minutes away). As with all the hotels in Japan, the standard check out time is 10am and the standard check in time is 3pm. This gave us 5 hours to do some tours before we checked in.
Mount Fuji Sightseeing Bus Tour to Kawaguchiko Natural Living Center
With some spare time on our hands, we contemplated whether to do a sightseeing bus tour around 2 of the 5 great lakes around Mount Fuji – Lake Kawaguchiko and Lake Saiko. The 2 day pass costs 1300 yen (for red line that covers Lake Kawaguchiko attractions and green line that covers Lake Saiko attractions) or 1500 yen (for red, green and blue line that covers the further Lake Shojiko/Lake Motosuko attractions), depending on the length of time you have around Mount Fuji. Since we only had 2 days, we decided to go for the red and green sightseeing bus tour around Lake Kawaguchiko and Lake Saiko for 1300 yen each. You can purchase the tickets (cash only) at the main entrance of the station.
After buying the tickets, we decided to cover the red line (Lake Kawaguchiko attractions) today and cover the green line (Lake Saiko attractions) the following day…
Besides the pass, you can also pay as you go. Hence, if you’re only going to an attraction a short distance away, it may be cheaper not to get the pass. However, in (overwhelmingly) most cases, the Sightseeing Bus Pass would be cheaper. If you’re paying per trip, the price would be indicated on the screen above the bus driver. The prices are listed according to the bus stop that you board and alight at. Each bus stop on the sightseeing bus tour has a stop number…
Our first stop, Bus Stop 22 – Kawaguchiko Natural Living Center…
Kawaguchiko Natural Living Center is an attraction because of the greenery it offers with Mount Fuji as the backdrop. There’s a restaurant and souvenir shop there as well. Upon arrival at Kawaguchiko Natural Living Center, we started off with a matcha latte (500 yen) and blue berry muffin (300 yen) to enjoy the garden views with Mount Fuji. The other thing we did was to check out the bus timing for departure from the Natural Living Center – 1235pm. That gave us about 2 hours here.
Book with Agoda Here: Fujikawaguchiko
Book with Klook Here: Popular Activities in Tokyo
This was followed by multiple Mount Fuji and garden shots at the Natural Living Center!
If you recall our last post on ice cream around Lake Kawaguchiko area, Kawaguchiko Natural Living Center has probably one of the best green tea soft serve ice creams around. It was rich in the taste of green tea, creamy to taste and definitely not too sweet. In fact, it was so good that we were savoring it and somehow a green tea Mount Fuji ice cream was formed!
As expected, the Sightseeing Bus arrived at the Natural Living Center right on time and we departed for Yagisaki Park (Stop 6) at 1235pm sharp. Unfortunately, when we arrived, we found out that Yagisaki park was under renovation and we were not able to sprawl on the green grass pastures there 🙁
As the number of visitors picked up throughout the day, we realised that the buses started to experience delays. At Yagisaki park, we saw a frustrated couple who must have waited for quite a while for our bus to arrive…From there we decided to take a walk (about half an hour) back to Hotel Konansou for check-in at our best hotel for this trip…
Just before checking in, we had lunchner at one of the second storey restaurants at Funatsu-hama Onsen Town which offered views of Lake Kawaguchiko (河口湖)…
This also ticked off the tempura udon on our “to-eat” list for this trip to Japan 😛
The cool thing about staying at Konansou (湖南庄) Fuji Kawaguchiko hotel was having a Lawson convenient store just next door. We were able to purchase some snacks for our dip in the in-room onsen and also some Sake/Choya (Umeshu – 梅酒) to go along with our dinner…
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Book with Agoda Here: Fujikawaguchiko
Book with Klook Here: Popular Activities in Tokyo
Stay tuned as we check out our most luxurious hotel for this trip – Konansou (湖南庄) Fuji Kawaguchiko Hotel, complete with the full ryokan (in-room dining) and in-room onsen experience, overlooking Mount Fuji!
Related Post
If you have just completed a post from our 12 days of travels in Japan. Find out more about this trip to Japan in the following posts below.
15 Travel Experiences and Things to do in Tokyo Japan!
Top 9 Things to do in Mount Fuji and Kawaguchiko Area!
Top 5 Things to do in Hida Takayama (高山)!
Top 6 Things to do in Nagoya (and food to eat)!
12 Days of Japan Travels: Tokyo Jimbocho and Imperial Palace Gardens Day 1
12 Days of Japan Travels: Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building Shinjuku Pablo and Shibuya Day 2
12 Days of Japan Travels: Mount Fuji, Lake Kawaguchi, Sanrokuen and Fujizakura Inn Reviews Day 3
12 Days of Japan Travels: Lake Kawaguchiko Natural Living Center & Sightseeing Bus Tour Day 4
Konansou Mount Fuji Hotel Review (湖南庄) : In-Room Onsen and Meals with views of Mount Fuji!
12 Days of Japan Travels: Takayama Morning Markets Jinya-Mae, Miyagawa and Takayama Hidagyu Day 6
12 Days of Japan Travels: Takayama Hidagyu (Hida Beef) and Bus Ride to Nagoya Day 7
Takayama Hidagyu Beef: All You Need To Know!
12 Days of Japan Travels: Eating our way through Nagoya Day 8
12 Days of Japan Travels: Visit Nagoya Castle and Overnight Bus Ride from Nagoya to Tokyo Day 9
12 Days of Japan Travels: Ichiran Ramen & Kamiya Pub Reviews Day 10
12 days of Japan Travels: Tsukiji Fish Market, Ippudo Ramen & Akihabara Tokyo Day 11
12 days of Japan Travels: Ueno Zoo, Ameyoko Shopping Street & Giga Butadon Day 12
Click here for recommended tours and trips in Tokyo!
