Mount Fuji from the Shinkansen Train

Owing to the COVID pandemic growing, I cancelled my last week in Japan and headed back to Australia.

I boarded the Shinkansen train in Kyoto for one final ride towards Tokyo, where my flight home would depart later that evening.

The train was almost empty of passengers, and as we hurtled at 300km/h towards the Japanese capital, I hoped I might catch a glimpse of the majestic Mt Fuji. 

The volcano is often shrouded in clouds, and if visible, it’s only for around 2 minutes of the 2.5 hour trip!

As you can see, I was not disappointed. With a little cloud hanging about, the mostly uninterrupted view was spectacular, and the size of Mt Fuji was way much larger than I’d expected as the train line is around 50kms away.

As I only had a few minutes, I took as many photos as I could through the window and was surprised at the clarity as well as the diversity of the landscape, from towns to built up industrial areas.

Tip – heading from Kyoto to Tokyo, sit on the left side of the train.