Aokigahara Forest: Sea of Trees and Ice Cave Walk

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The only walk that never leaves the forest

Almost everything sold around Mount Fuji treats Aokigahara Forest as one stop among eight or eleven, worth half an hour. This walk does the opposite: all three of its hours are inside the Sea of Trees, and the ice cave is part of the forest rather than a detour from it.

That is the reason to book it. If you came for the Jukai itself, rather than for a circuit of the lakes with the forest attached, there is nothing else here shaped like this.

What three uninterrupted hours actually buy

Time to stop. The trail is flat and easy, so the pace is set by how long the guide stands still, and it is the standing still that makes the difference: the moss layer, the fungi doing the work of soil, the roots riding over bare basalt because there is nothing to sink into.

The forest is also unusually quiet, and there is a reason for it. Porous lava absorbs sound instead of reflecting it, so there is almost no echo and no carrying distance. Travellers who wrote about this walk describe it as hauntingly beautiful and quieter than anywhere else they went in Japan.

Into the ice, with a handrail

The cave section is a proper descent but a managed one, with steps, rails and lighting where the path runs. A helmet and gloves are handed out because the ceiling is low in places and the walls are wet, not because the route is difficult.

Travellers describe rugged, natural, undisturbed ground rather than a walkway, and they are right. Shoes with grip do more for you here than anything else you could bring.

What the fare already covers

Who this suits — and who should book something else

This suits you if the forest is the point of the trip. It suits photographers, anyone travelling with children over six, and anyone who would rather have one place explained properly than six places pointed at.

Book something else if you are coming out from Tokyo for a single day and want the mountain as well — this walk assumes you are already at the lake. The private day with a cooked lunch starts in Tokyo and still puts you on the forest trail.

Where you meet the guide

The meeting point is the second car park at Michi-no-eki Narusawa, the roadside station on the main road through the forest, and a shuttle runs from around Kawaguchiko Station for anyone without a car. Getting there independently on the Blue Line bus takes about twenty-five minutes and costs 680 yen one way.

Confirmation can take up to 48 hours on this departure, so book a little further ahead than you would elsewhere.

Know before you go

• Confirmation takes up to 48 hours. Book two or three days out rather than the night before.
• Guiding is in English or Japanese. Confirm which at booking so there is no surprise at the car park.
• Children from six are welcome with an adult. Under-twelves need a parent or guardian alongside them.
• Meals and drinks are not included. Kawaguchiko is the place to eat before or after.
• It is real cave footing. Rugged and natural rather than a walkway, so wear shoes you can grip in.
• Bring a warm layer. The cave holds its cold whatever the forecast says above ground.

What travellers say about this walk

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