About this site

This is a small independent guide to Lake Yamanaka (Yamanakako) at the foot of Mt Fuji, and to the parts of the Fuji Five Lakes area a visitor is likely to combine with it. It is written and maintained by one person, independently.

It is not an official website. The lake lies in Yamanakako Village, and the official tourism site is run by the Yamanakako Tourist Association at lake-yamanakako.com. This site has no connection to Yamanakako Village, the tourist association, Yamanashi Prefecture, the village company that runs the flower park and the public baths, Fujikyu and its bus, boat and KABA services, or any hotel or tour company mentioned on these pages. Nobody pays to appear here.

How we decide what goes on the site

Every page starts from sources we can name: the village office, the tourist association, Yamanashi Prefecture and its tourism site, the Japan Meteorological Agency, Japan’s tourism and transport ministries, and the operators’ own websites for fares and opening hours. Where sources disagree, as they often do on lake measurements, Diamond Fuji dates and old prices, we say which figure we used and mention the other.

When we could not confirm something, we leave it out. We found no published legend about the lake, so there is none here. Geologists still debate which eruption formed the lake, so we do not name one.

Fees, bus fares and timetables carry the month we checked them. They change, sometimes mid-season, so we link to the operator and ask you to confirm before you travel. Driving times come from a routing engine and run short in real traffic.

Tours, hotels and how we make money

Tours on this site link to GetYourGuide, and some hotel links may be turned into affiliate links by Stay22. If you book through one of those links we may earn a commission, and the price you pay is the same. We do not run the tours and we are not GetYourGuide or a booking site. The full explanation is on our affiliate disclosure page.

Tell us when we are wrong

A fare goes up, a bus stop moves, a bath closes for repairs. If you find something out of date or plainly wrong, email info@lakeyamanaka.com with the page and what you saw. Corrections are welcome; we would rather hear it from you than leave a mistake standing.