Glamping In The Foothills Of Mount Fuji

When Mount Fuji has her hat on, so ancient legend goes, it will rain. How true.

A mantle of cloud over the 3,776 metres summit announced a day of raining cats, dogs and Japanese dragons.

This changeable rainy season did not augur well for my move from the luxury of our beautifully appointed 400 year old traditionally built house to the Great Outdoors camping site – a tent in the woods. Or, to be exact, a pao that looked more like a domed space craft.

Why swap the solidity and comfort of leather sofas, deep pile rugs, a crackling firepit and comfy bed for a dark, soggy clearing in the forest with rivulets of rainwater gushing past?  Not to mention the bears. But this was an adventure, a chance to chop wood for the barbecue, to cook our supper – chicken hotpot and skewers of meat, veg, strawberries and marshmallows – and to shrug off the stresses of urban life. 

From stargazing to kayaking, all in the shadow of Mount Fuji

Stargazing, canoeing, archery, cycling around the lakes at the foot of Mount Fuji. Bathing naked in an onsen, a reviving spa bath filled with Fuji water that’s seeped through the volcanic rock over millennia. A barrel sauna and jacuzzi, cinema and amphitheatre complete the luxury.

After a fortifying slug of saki, or rice wine, I set off on a short walk with overnight bag and Fuji mineral water to a campsite with 16 paos, all with kitchens and barbecue area. Banish all thought of flapping canvas, tangled guy ropes or even posh Glastonbury camping.

Welcome to Glamping Villa Hanz style at Kawaguchiko. Two hours from Tokyo and a million miles from city cares in the serenity of a lakeside landscape among towering cedars and red pines. Home to flying squirrels, eagles, dormice and noisy frogs. I entered my pao, a huge hexagonal white bubble, through a proper door onto a squeaky clean floor thanks to the rigid Japanese rule of removing outdoor shoes once over the threshold of homes and even restaurants.  There were Finnish reindeer rugs and a bed big enough for a family. A springy mattress with smooth Egyptian sheets and downy duvet to snuggle under as the rains tipped down.

With no brolly or directions to the nearest loo it was a relief, in all senses, to take just three steps to an outside cabin with shower, five star hotel toiletries and an all-singing-dancing-flushing lavatory, my favourite Japanese thing.  (Pop into Japan House in Kensington, west London, to see the attraction). A heated seat, a bidet and two directional wash, adjustable jet strengths, warm wafts from the dryer – bottom bliss.  A Japanese WC seat is on my Christmas list this year for my very own wash, rinse and blow dry.

Back in my pao I heard beating of early bird wings and scuttling of hopefully friendly dormice.  Sleep was elusive so I rose with the dawn chorus to my first equally elusive sight of the sun rising on Mount Fuji casting a golden, glowing light on her snow cap. Magical.

The World Heritage Site of Mount Fuji

Japan’s highest point is a series of overlapping volcanos that last erupted in 1707.  She is mesmerising, mystical and majestic, twinned in friendship with her European sister, the Matterhorn. Mount Fuji, Japan’s sacred symbol, is also a magnet for throngs of traffic-stopping tourists seeking selfies in this World Heritage Site. Thousands of climbers and trekkers are also drawn each year. Sadly the mountain claimed another thee lives during our stay. We did nothing more risky than hike alongside a thundering gorge, join pilgrims climbing hundreds of steps to fascinating shrines, and paddle our tandem canoe across shimmering Lake Kawaguchiko to Cormorant Island.

Our guide Toi ground coffee for our picnic and served his own honey on crackers.  He gave up art and flower arranging for this outdoor life. ‘I love canoeing by the mountain.  I want to share that happiness,’ he smiled as eagles soared. With the motto of Relax if you Can the whole emphasis of Glamping Villa Hanz is: activity (tick); self-sufficiency (half tick for wood chopping, stirring breakfast scrambled eggs with chopsticks, BBQ duty); and relaxation (double tick for enjoying craft beers, sushi, saki and tea).

We dressed up in silk kimono and more casual cotton yukata for a traditional tea ceremony under the strict eye of our 80 year old teacher Sensei Ogiso.  Chopstick slender she strained to fit our Western curves into modest attire. We’d added a few inches thanks to matcha buns, hoto noodles, suiton flour dumplings, shrimp tempura and an array of regional Japanese cuisine and local wines.

At Oike Park we discovered at the first annual wine festival held on the shores of Lake Kawaguchiko. Dozens of winemakers of Yamanashi, Japan’s foremost wine-producing region, showcased their produce.  We even tracked down a winery that exports to the UK: Grace Wine.  Its offering received the Platinum Award at the Decanter World Wine Awards.  ‘Kampai’ or Cheers to that. 

We were less enthusiastic about one restaurant dish on the menu:  bear. No thanks. We preferred to let them roam the forested slopes of sleeping Mount Fuji and her rain hat.

• Prices from £176** per Pao sleeping two people per night on a room only basis. From £224 per room in a Villa sleeping two people per night on a room only basis.   

• For more information about Glamping Villa Hanz, please visit: https://gv-hanz.com/?lang=en