Visiting Lake Kawaguchiko, how to get there?

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From Tokyo, you've got two choices:

  • Direct highway bus from Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko, about 1:45.
  • JR Chuo line express train from Tokyo station or Shinjuku to Ōtsuki, transfer to Fuji Kyuko line to Kawaguchiko (Japan Rail Pass [JRP] not valid), total travel time around 2:30 including transfer times.

To Osaka, life gets more complicated:

  • There is one (1) direct overnight service from Lake Kawaguchi to Osaka. It costs Β₯8,500 and takes ~10 hours depending on where in Osaka you get off.
  • Fujikyu Bus runs bus services to JR Shin-Fuji and Mishima stations, from which you can catch the Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train to Osaka. Both buses take ~2 hours, JRP not valid.
  • Alternatively, backtrack to the Chuo line and either return nearly all the way to Tokyo to Yokohama to board the Shinkansen bullet train (both the cheapest & fastest option if you have a JRP), or head north towards Shiojiri and then loop back towards Osaka (scenic but slow and connections infrequent).

I rarely recommend rental cars in Japan, but the Fuji Five Lakes is one of the few areas on Honshu where it makes sense. Don't rent from Tokyo, though, but at a suitable station along the way; then if heading towards Osaka, you could drive around Fuji and drop off the car at (eg.) Shin-Fuji stn before continuing by Shinkansen.

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