Narusawa Ice Cave and Fugaku Wind Cave

The Narusawa Ice Cave and the Fugaku Wind Cave are two lava tubes on the north-west side of Mt Fuji, about 15 minutes’ walk apart. Each costs ¥350 for an adult and opens at 9:00, closing between 16:00 and 17:30 depending on the season. Inside it stays between 0 and 4 °C all year, and in the ice cave the ice stays frozen.

They are a good half-day out from Lake Yamanaka, about 27 km away, roughly 34 minutes by car, and they work in any weather. When Fuji is hidden in cloud and the lake viewpoints are pointless, a cave is not.

Fees and opening hours

From the operator’s site, checked October 2026. Both caves charge the same and keep the same hours.

Ticket	Narusawa Ice Cave	Fugaku Wind Cave
Adult (junior high and up)	¥350	¥350
Child (primary and under)	¥200	¥200
Group of 15+, adult / child	¥250 / ¥100	¥250 / ¥100
School group (junior and senior high)	¥200 / ¥100	¥200 / ¥100

Period	Hours (both caves)
1 August to 15 October	9:00 to 17:30
16 October to 15 November	9:00 to 17:00
16 November to 15 February	9:00 to 16:30
16 to 28 February	9:00 to 16:00
1 to 15 March	9:00 to 16:30

The operator’s table covers August to mid-March; it says hours can change with the weather or the state of the cave. Japan-guide lists no closing days.

Combined ticket: the operator’s site does not list one. Visitor reports mention a ticket covering both caves, at prices that differ between sources, so check at the window instead of relying on a figure from the web.

How the caves formed

Both caves were made in 864, during an eruption of Nagaoyama, one of Mt Fuji’s side volcanoes. A flow of lava, the Aokigahara lava, ran down between older cones, and the two tunnel-shaped caves formed inside it. The operator says the two caves were made national natural monuments in 1929 and are valued by geologists.

The same lava flow is now covered by the Aokigahara forest, and the ice cave sits at its eastern edge.

Narusawa Ice Cave

This is the colder and harder of the two. The route is a short loop, about 150 m and 10 to 15 minutes according to Japan’s tourism agency, which describes the entrance shaft as about 21 m deep. Japan-guide warns of low ceilings and slippery stairs. The deepest part stays below freezing all year, and from the early 1900s the cave was used to store ice.

Wear shoes with grip and keep a hand free for the stairs.

The operator’s own advice is worth repeating: the cave steps are steep, and the sudden change in temperature can be hard on people with weak legs or a heart condition.

Fugaku Wind Cave

The wind cave is easier: a horizontal tunnel about 201 m long and up to 8.7 m high, which japan-guide calls the most walkable of the area’s caves. The operator says it averages 3 °C even in summer. Until the early Showa period (the late 1920s and 1930s) it was used as a natural refrigerator to store silkworm eggs. The visit route takes about 15 minutes and passes ice pillars that do not melt in summer, lava shelves and ropy lava.

One odd detail the operator points out: the cave swallows sound. The basalt walls absorb it, so voices do not echo.

Ice cave or wind cave?

If you only have time for one, this is how they compare, from the operator, japan-guide and Japan’s tourism agency.

	Narusawa Ice Cave	Fugaku Wind Cave
Route	Loop of about 150 m, 10 to 15 min	About 15 min visit route in a 201 m tube
Temperature	Deepest part below freezing all year	About 3 °C on average
Walking	Low ceilings, steep and slippery stairs	The easier walk of the two
What stands out	The cold and the descent into the lava	Ice pillars, lava shelves, ropy lava, no echo
Price	¥350 adult	¥350 adult

Choose the wind cave with small children or anyone unsteady on stairs. Choose the ice cave if you want the colder, more cramped experience.

Visiting both caves

Japan-guide gives about 15 minutes on foot between the two along the main road. With 10 to 15 minutes in the ice cave and about 15 in the wind cave, both caves and the walk between them fit into roughly an hour.

Toilets are next to the wind cave car park and next to the ice cave entrance. There are none inside the caves or in the forest.

The operator also runs guided nature walks: a one to two hour course that takes in both caves, and a three hour course to the Sankodai viewpoint. Details are on the operator’s site.

Lava tree molds

The caves are not the only lava features in Narusawa village. Japan’s tourism agency lists the Narusawa lava tree molds as a national special natural monument, and the cave operator says the village’s lava tree molds are among the world’s leading sites for the number of spiracles. They are a separate site from the two caves.

Getting there

From	How	Time
Lake Yamanaka (Asahigaoka)	Car	About 34 min, 27 km
Kawaguchiko IC	Car	About 20 min
Kawaguchiko Station	Local bus to Fuketsu or Hyoketsu stop	About 30 min
Kawaguchiko Station	Fujikyu Green Line or Blue Line sightseeing bus	Green about 50 min, Blue about 30 min (infrequent)

Drive time from Lake Yamanaka is a free-flow estimate. Bus times are from the operator and japan-guide; japan-guide gives only 15 minutes for the local bus, so allow for either. The Green, Blue and Red sightseeing lines share a pass of ¥1,500 for one day or ¥2,000 for two (checked October 2026), and the Blue Line carries on to Lake Shojiko and Lake Motosuko.

Without a car from Lake Yamanaka, get to Kawaguchiko Station first: the Fujikko-go loop bus takes 51 minutes from Asahigaoka, and Gotemba-line buses are quicker. Then change to a bus west. The Lake Kawaguchiko guide covers the station and its bus lines.

Nearby

The Green Line bus that serves the caves also loops Lake Saiko, and the Fuji Shibazakura Festival venue near Lake Motosu is further west, so in late April and May you can pair a cave with the moss phlox fields. The Fuji Five Lakes guide puts the western lakes in context, and things to do near Mt Fuji lists more for a cloudy day.

None of the coach day tours on our tours page stop at the caves; they are easiest by car or on the Kawaguchiko sightseeing buses.