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Asahigaoka Bus Terminal

旭日丘バスターミナル・森の駅 旭日丘

Transport · Bus terminal

Asahigaoka Bus Terminal — reopened in 2006 as "Mori no Eki" (Forest Station) — is the main bus hub on Lake Yamanaka's Asahigaoka shore, and the most useful single transit node in the area. Highway buses run here from Busta Shinjuku, Tokyo Station and beyond, while local Fujikyu route buses link it to Fujisan Station, Kawaguchiko and Gotemba — passing Oshino Hakkai on the way — and the Fujikko sightseeing bus loops the lake from out front. It's also where the Kaba amphibious bus launches. Upstairs is the ticket counter and waiting room; downstairs is a souvenir shop and rest stop, with lake vie

Benifuji no Yu

山中湖温泉 紅富士の湯

Onsen · Day-use onsen

A big, well-loved day-use onsen on the shore of Lake Yamanaka, with natural hot-spring water and a wall of glass — plus an open-air bath — framing Mt. Fuji. Soak through a row of indoor tubs (jet, bubble, lying and a lukewarm source bath), a sauna with a cold plunge, and the signature rotenburo looking straight at the mountain, then head upstairs for hoto noodles and Shingen soft serve. Towels and in-house wear are sold on site, so you can turn up empty-handed. It's a relaxing, tourist-friendly stop — especially after climbing Fuji — with two important caveats: it's closed Mondays and Tuesdays

Hakkai Konohanakan

富士山温泉 八海木花館

Stay · Ryokan

A five-villa private onsen ryokan that opened in 2022 a few minutes from the Oshino Hakkai springs, built entirely around seclusion: each of its five units is a standalone two-storey villa with its own gated entrance, private garden, and a 24-hour semi-open-air natural hot-spring bath — no shared baths, no other guests. Seasonal creative kaiseki is served in your room, dinner and a Japanese breakfast built on local Yamanashi ingredients, and several rooms frame Mt. Fuji straight from the upstairs tatami living space. It's a quiet, splurge-level retreat aimed at couples and small groups, with t

Lake Yamanaka Hōko Festival

山中湖報湖祭

Event · Summer fireworks festival

The Hōko Festival is Lake Yamanaka's big night of summer and the curtain-raiser for the whole Fuji Five Lakes fireworks season. Held every August 1 since the Taishō era, it began as a memorial and disaster-warding rite — a daytime Shinto ceremony gives thanks to the lake, and after dark around 10,000 shells go up over the water from two shore points, so you can watch from almost anywhere around the lake. Because Lake Yamanaka sits closest of the five lakes to Mt. Fuji, the payoff is fireworks bursting against the mountain's silhouette and mirrored on the still water. It's free, traditional and

Nakaike Pond

中池

Attraction · Spring pond (viewpoint)

Naka-ike — the "Middle Pond" — is the deep, vividly blue pool at the heart of Oshino Hakkai, and the image most people picture when they think of the springs. Fed by the same Mt. Fuji snowmelt, its water is so clear you can see straight to the bottom, with koi drifting among swaying water plants and, on a still morning, Mt. Fuji mirrored on the surface. It sits right by the Ikemoto souvenir shop amid food stalls and free spring-water tasting, which makes it lively — but also the most crowded spot in the village. One honest note: as striking as it is, Naka-ike is actually man-made and not one o

Nakanoya-tei

忍野八海 中の家亭

Yamanashi

A calm, traditional washoku restaurant a one-minute walk from the Oshino Hakkai springs, with Mt. Fuji views and English-speaking service. Lunch centres on beautifully presented set meals (gozen) — beef or pork shabu-shabu, a seafood hot pot, grilled eel, or the signature Mt. Fuji clay-plate grill — each laid out with sashimi, seasonal small dishes, fruit and a little udon. There are simpler teishoku sets too (tonkatsu, hamburg steak, tempura noodles, Yamanashi's hoto hotpot), genuine vegetarian options, and splurge dishes like A5 Hida wagyu. Groups are welcome, parking is available, and you can reserve by phone, LINE, WhatsApp or WeChat.

Oshino Hakkai

忍野八海

Restaurant · Natural site · spring-fed ponds

Oshino Hakkai — the "Eight Seas of Oshino" — is a cluster of eight spring-fed ponds at the foot of Mt. Fuji, filled by snowmelt that has filtered through volcanic rock for decades and emerges astonishingly clear and cold. The ponds drew Mt. Fuji pilgrims for centuries and are now a National Natural Monument and part of the mountain's UNESCO World Heritage listing. Around the central ponds sits a small, postcard-pretty village of thatched roofs, souvenir shops and food stalls — grilled fish, mochi, spring-water coffee — while the deepest pond, Waku-ike, glows a famous deep blue. It's free, fami

Oshino Hakkai Main Souvenir Store

忍野八海 池本売店

Shopping · Souvenir shop

The Oshino Hakkai Main Souvenir Store is the central souvenir-and-snack shop at the ponds, right by the vivid blue Middle Pond and an easy stop as you walk the village. It's two things at once: a street-food counter for warm kusa-mochi (herbal grass mochi with red bean), freshly grilled fish cakes and Muscat-grape soft serve, and a souvenir shop stacked with Yamanashi sweets and small gifts. There's also a spring-water fill station, where you can buy a bottle (about ¥150) and top it with Oshino's famous snowmelt water straight from the source. It opens early — around 7 AM — so it's a good firs

Oshino Seimenjo

おしの製麺所

Restaurant

Yamanashi

A local noodle maker (seimenjo) right beside the Oshino Hakkai springs, with a postcard view of Mt. Fuji. This is a shop, not a restaurant — you don't eat in; you buy fresh, hand-made udon, soba and (when available) hiyamugi noodles boxed by the kilo to cook at home, plus the shop's own fiery shichimi spice. The noodles are firm and chewy, the soba made from local buckwheat, and a box makes an excellent, inexpensive souvenir. Friendly and well loved by locals — an easy stop on the way to or from the springs.

Oshino Shinobi no Sato

忍野しのびの里

Experience · Ninja theme village

Oshino Shinobi no Sato — the "Ninja Village" of Oshino — is a ninja-themed park a few minutes from the Oshino Hakkai ponds, built for hands-on fun with Mt. Fuji as the backdrop. A single "passage" ticket gets you the headline ninja stage show (action-packed enough to follow without any Japanese), a karakuri trick house of hidden doors and sloping floors, and a seven-stage ninja athletic course. Pay a little extra to throw real shuriken — there's a prize if you hit the target — rent a costume for the day, or sign the kids up for a ninjutsu lesson. Round it off in the Fuji-view Japanese garden w

Oshino Village Tourist Information Center

忍野村観光案内所

Service · Tourist info

The Oshino Village Tourist Information Center is the village's main information point, a few minutes' walk from the Oshino Hakkai ponds and the natural first stop for getting your bearings. Staff hand out area maps, point you to the ponds, food stalls and bus stops, and sell the Oshino Hakkai nine-pond stamp set (¥200) — a nice, cheap keepsake of the walk. English is limited but they're well used to international visitors, and they'll help if you get separated from a tour group. It's free to use and open roughly 9:00–17:00. The one thing to sort before you arrive: Oshino is largely cash-only,

WATER CRAB

山中湖 ウォータークラブ

Experience · Canoe, kayak & SUP operator

Yamanashi

WATER CRAB is a small, friendly paddling operator on the quiet east shore of Lake Yamanaka, built around getting complete beginners out onto the water with Mt. Fuji behind them. The signature program uses a rock-stable inflatable canoe — children from age 4 can join — with an instructor staying alongside for a short lesson and then an easy, low-effort glide across the lake. Life jackets are provided (and washed after every use), you can turn up empty-handed, and sessions run even in light rain. SUP joins the menu in summer; in winter the same crew switches to smelt fishing. Go on a clear morni

Wafū Jinsen

食事処 和風 仁泉

Restaurant

Yamanashi

A large, easygoing washoku restaurant about five minutes by car from the Oshino Hakkai springs, serving Yamanashi home-style Japanese food — set-meal lunches, tempura and grilled-fish teishoku, sushi, and soba or udon — in famously generous portions at moderate prices. With around 160 seats across tables, a counter, and floor-seated tatami rooms (Mt. Fuji visible in the distance), it works for everyone from solo travelers to large tour groups. The restaurant is well used to international visitors and asks guests to book ahead.

Yakiniku Osa

焼肉 おさ

Yamanashi

A small, well-loved seared-yakiniku restaurant (aburi-yakiniku) tucked into Oshino village, a few minutes from the Oshino Hakkai springs. The signature is its remarkably thick-cut salted beef tongue — around a centimetre thick, grilled rare, and best not overcooked — alongside block-thick skirt steak, wagyu short rib, and a full spread of offal, plus Korean-style sides like kimchi, bibimbap, cold noodles and tofu jjigae. The meat quality is high and the bill runs to special-occasion territory (roughly ¥4,000–5,000 a head), but reviewers — locals and travellers alike — rate it highly for both the food and the warm, attentive service.

Yakitori KE-AI

焼き鳥 KE-AI

Restaurant

Tokyo

A warm, homey charcoal-grill yakitori izakaya near Oshino Village Hall, a short hop from the Oshino Hakkai springs. Skewers — chicken thigh, meatballs, pork-wrapped vegetables and the house pork BBQ — are grilled over charcoal from just ¥100, alongside izakaya plates and cold beer. It's a small, local spot run by an exceptionally welcoming English-speaking owner who'll happily put together an omakase selection; expect limited seating, charcoal smoke, and a genuinely friendly atmosphere.

Yanagihara Udon

柳原うどん

Restaurant

Yamanashi

A bustling, family-run Yoshida-udon shop in Oshino — the local Yamanashi style, where the noodles are deliberately firm and chewy, the broth a sweet miso-soy, and the bowls big and cheap. Have your udon with beef, tofu, cabbage and egg, season it yourself with crunchy tenkasu and the region's fiery suridane chili paste, and add the popular grilled-beef (yakiniku) set if it hasn't sold out. It's lunch only and hugely popular — over a thousand reviews and often a queue — set in a homey, no-frills room run by hardworking locals. Bring cash, come hungry, and don't expect soft udon: the firm bite is the whole point.

Yokokawa

居酒屋・ホルモン焼 横川

Restaurant

Yamanashi

A new horumon-yaki (grilled-offal) izakaya that opened in late 2024 in the quiet Shibokusa area right by the Oshino Hakkai springs, with Mt. Fuji views. Alongside the charcoal-grilled offal and meat that give it its name, the menu runs to tripe sashimi, Korean-style short-rib rice soups (kuppa), izakaya snacks, and a serious drinks list — premium shochu, Japanese whisky and sake. It's small, friendly and popular with locals, so it fills up fast; book ahead.

Yoshinoya Official Website

Restaurant

Yoshinoya is one of Japan's most iconic gyudon (beef bowl) chains, founded in 1899 by Eikichi Matsuda at Tokyo's Nihonbashi Fish Market. Operating under the motto 'tasty, affordable, and fast,' it serves thinly sliced beef and onions simmered in a sweet-savory soy-based sauce over rice. The official website covers the full Yoshinoya menu, store locator, news, campaigns, and part-time job listings.

Yoshinoya Official Website

Restaurant

Yoshinoya is Japan's iconic gyudon (beef bowl) fast-food chain, founded in 1899 by Eikichi Matsuda at Tokyo's Nihonbashi fish market. Operated by Yoshinoya Co., Ltd. under Yoshinoya Holdings (TYO: 9861), it serves thinly sliced beef simmered with onions in a sweet-savory sauce over rice. The brand's motto is "tasty, low-priced, and quick," with over 1,200 domestic locations and 3,000+ outlets worldwide.