Getting around Yamanashi

Getting inHow you arrive in Yamanashi

No airport — about 1h 30m from Shinjuku (Tokyo) by limited express or bus

Confirmed journey times

Fastest services, checked on the date shown.

There is no shinkansen here: Yamanashi has no shinkansen station. For the Fuji lakes, the bus is the simplest way in.
Checked 2026-08-16
By bus from Shinjuku: Busta Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko station in about 1 hour 45 minutes (sometimes 95–105 minutes). Forty or more services a day, every 10 minutes to an hour. Book online — on busy days the counter cannot sell you a same-day seat.
Checked 2026-08-16
Where it stops: The same route calls at Fuji-Q Highland, Kawaguchiko station, Fujisan station, Lake Yamanaka and the Fifth Station on Mt. Fuji — you do not need to change once you are on it.
Checked 2026-08-16
About rail passes: The Fujikyu railway is private and a Japan Rail Pass does not cover it, and the bus is not covered either. For this prefecture the pass saves you nothing — budget the bus fare separately.
Checked 2026-08-16

A Japan Rail Pass does not cover Nozomi or Mizuho. What a rail pass covers

In this prefecture you will probably use Fujikyu (for the Five Lakes) — a private railway, not JR. A Japan Rail Pass does not cover it.

An IC card works on most of them. Signs and station names are in English.

Worth it the moment you leave the main city. What you need to drive here

Permit neededDrive left

Clean, safe and metered. Show the address on your phone rather than saying it. Doors are often opened for you.

Show the address

City: Usually around midnight
Country: Far earlier — sometimes mid-afternoon. Ask at the stop when you arrive, not when you want to leave
If you miss it: Ask your inn to call a taxi before the last bus goes, not after

ATMs: Use 7-Eleven or Japan Post for a foreign card. Bank ATMs are hit and miss
Carry: ¥10,000–20,000 on a day out of the city. Rural areas have very little
Small places: Cash only is common. Ask “Card OK?” before you order

Lockers: At the main station, paid by IC card. They fill by mid-morning
Send it: Any convenience store will deliver it to your next hotel, usually next day. Cheaper than carrying it up stairs
At your inn: They will hold it before check-in and after check-out