Hoshinoya Fuji (虹夕諾雅 富士 / 星のや富士) is Japan's first glamping resort: 40 cabin-style rooms strung along a wooded hillside above Lake Kawaguchi, in Yamanashi, each with a terrace that puts Mount Fuji in the frame. It opened on 30 October 2015 as the HOSHINOYA brand's take on camping — the comfort of a hotel, the rituals of a camp — and the cabins are deliberately plain so that nothing competes with the view. Expect wood-fired coffee in the forest, a packed backpack of field kit, Dutch-oven dinners on your own terrace and a fire bowl after dark. The thing to know before booking: there is no shuttle, so you arrange your own way up from Kawaguchiko Station.
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What it is
Fujikawaguchiko sits at the northern foot of Mount Fuji, and Lake Kawaguchi is the classic view of the mountain — the one on the postcards, with water in the foreground and Fuji behind. Hoshinoya Fuji occupies a wooded slope above the lake's northern shore, at 1408 Oishi. The reception is at the bottom of the hill; the cabins are higher up, along a path that climbs through the trees.
The hotel opened on 30 October 2015 as Japan's first glamping resort, and it is a genuine departure for the brand. Where Hoshinoya Karuizawa is a village and Hoshinoya Tokyo is a tower, this one is a camp: timber-textured cabins stepped down a hillside, each with a third of its floor area given over to an open terrace. The architect was Rie Azuma, who also designed Hoshinoya Guguan in Taiwan, and the brief was unusual — design rooms that deliberately do not compete with what is outside them.
That single decision shapes everything. The interiors are quiet and spare, the palette is muted, and the one extravagant gesture in each room is a full-height glass wall framing the mountain. If you are here for a view, you already have it; the rest of the hotel exists so you can sit still and use it.
The cabins
There are 40 cabins, for one to three guests, and they are all the same idea: a bed, a sitting area, a bathroom, and a terrace that is roughly a third of the total space. Floor-to-ceiling glazing runs along the front, so the boundary between inside and outside is mostly a decision rather than a wall.
The window is the point. From the sofa, the composition is Lake Kawaguchi in the middle distance and Mount Fuji behind it — and the hotel has been sited so that the mountain sits square in the frame rather than off to one side. In cherry-blossom season the view gets a foreground; in autumn the hillside turns; in winter the air clears and the mountain is at its sharpest.
Inside, the details are camping details done properly: a B&O Bluetooth speaker, a folding metal coffee dripper with selected beans rather than a capsule machine, and a kotatsu — the low heated table — for the cold months. On the terrace there is a sofa you can genuinely lie down on, and a fire bowl that becomes the focal point after dark. What there is not is an in-room hot-spring bath; the onsen here is a shared bath, and the bathing is not really why you came.
The terrace
The terrace is the reason this hotel exists, and it is worth being explicit about how much of the stay happens on it. Breakfast is served there. Dinner often is too. Coffee is made there in the morning. The hotel plainly expects you to spend hours on it, and has furnished it accordingly — a deep sofa, the kotatsu for cold evenings, cushions, a lantern.
At check-in you are handed a backpack of field kit to use for your stay: binoculars, a headlamp for walking after dark, a cushion for sitting on the ground, a water bottle and something to snack on. You choose the bag from a wall of them, and the bottle is yours to keep. It is a small ritual, but it sets the tone — this is a place that wants you outside, looking, rather than in a lobby.
Dining
There are two restaurants, and the best table in the house is the one on your own terrace. Dinner is built around the Dutch oven and the fire: a wine sukiyaki with beef, duck and seasonal vegetables, cooked at the table while the mountain goes dark in front of you. Breakfast arrives as a box — pastries, jam, yoghurt, fruit and coffee — designed to be carried outside rather than eaten in a dining room.
The other ritual is coffee. The hotel runs wood-fired coffee in the forest, brewed over a fire rather than a machine, and part of the morning's pleasure is walking down to it. Between the terrace dinners, the morning box and the forest coffee, eating here is less about the dining room than about where you eat.
The glamping day
Glamping is a marketing word almost everywhere else; here it comes with staff whose actual job is to make the outdoors easy. The hotel's "glamping masters" run the outdoor programme, and the shape of a day is roughly: coffee and the view at dawn from the terrace, a guided walk or a nature session in the middle of the day, the fire and dinner in the evening.
The setting does a lot of the work. The Aokigahara forest — the dense woodland that spreads across the lava flows from Fuji's last major eruption, around twelve centuries ago — begins practically at the property, and the hotel runs forest programmes in it, including guided walks and a tree-sea retreat that is part walking, part breathing. Oishi Park, on the lake shore a short drive away, is the other classic vantage point. Kawaguchiko is also the gateway for the mountain itself: the Yoshida trailhead and the Sengen Shrine that marks its start are both within reach.
Getting there
The nearest station is Kawaguchiko, and the hotel does not run a shuttle, so plan the last leg yourself — a taxi or a route bus from the station. From Tokyo, the standard route is Shinjuku to Otsuki on the Ltd Express Kaiji, then the Fujikyu line to Kawaguchiko: about two hours in total. Highway buses run direct from Tokyo, Shinjuku and Shibuya to Kawaguchiko in roughly the same time, which is often the easier option with luggage.
From Nagoya or Osaka, take a highway bus to Mishima and change for Kawaguchiko — about 90 minutes on the second leg. By car from Tokyo, it is the Chuo Expressway to Otsuki Junction, then the Higashi-Fuji-Goko Road to the Kawaguchiko interchange, and about 20 minutes from there. Haneda is roughly two hours by car, Narita about three.
Parking is free and outdoors with no reservation, and there are four EV charging points, bookable after you have reserved your room.
Who it suits
Hoshinoya Fuji is best for couples and for anyone who wants the mountain rather than a resort. Photographers do well here, because the light changes all day and the room is built around looking at it. It is also the obvious choice for a first glamping trip: everything that is normally a hassle about camping — the pitching, the cooking, the cold, the dark — has been solved, while the good parts have been kept.
It suits less well if you want a large suite, a private hot-spring bath in your room, or the density of service you get at a traditional ryokan. It is also a car-easier stay than most: with no shuttle, and a taxi or bus needed for the station, travellers without a vehicle should plan that leg in advance.
Practical details
40 cabins, one to three guests. Check-in is from 3:00 PM, check-out is at 12:00 PM. Wi-Fi is free throughout. Children under 12 may share a bed up to the room's maximum occupancy. Pets are accepted, but only for stays up to 11 January 2027. There is a shared hot-spring bath, a spa, a pool and a kids' room. Parking is free and outdoors with no reservation, and payment is by card — including UnionPay on site — or through Paidy in advance.
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FAQ
Where is Hoshinoya Fuji, and how do I get there from Tokyo?
It is at 1408 Oishi, Fujikawaguchiko-machi, Yamanashi, on a hillside above the north shore of Lake Kawaguchi. From Tokyo, take the Ltd Express Kaiji from Shinjuku to Otsuki and change to the Fujikyu line for Kawaguchiko — about two hours — or a direct highway bus to Kawaguchiko. There is no hotel shuttle, so continue by taxi or route bus.
Do the cabins at Hoshinoya Fuji have a view of Mount Fuji?
Yes. Each of the 40 cabins has a full-height glass wall and a terrace facing Mount Fuji across Lake Kawaguchi, and the hotel is sited so the mountain sits square in the frame.
Is there a hot-spring bath at Hoshinoya Fuji?
There is a shared hot-spring bath, along with a spa. What the cabins do not have is a private in-room onsen — the bathing here is a shared facility, not a room feature.
Can I stay at Hoshinoya Fuji with children or pets?
Children are welcome, and those under 12 may share a bed up to the room's maximum occupancy. Pets are accepted, but only up to stays on 11 January 2027.
Sources
Putting Hoshinoya Fuji into your itinerary
A cabin resort in the woods above Lake Kawaguchi pairs naturally with the Fuji Five Lakes and the Hakone highlands — a two- to three-day loop of mountain, lake and onsen.
1 day — Lake Kawaguchi — a lakeside walk, the Mt. Kachi Kachi ropeway for the classic Fuji panorama, and an evening back at the cabin terrace.
2 days — Oshino Hakkai's spring ponds and the Gotemba area on the lower slopes, with Fuji views over the shopping streets.
3 days — Hakone — Lake Ashi, the volcanic valley of Owakudani and Hakone Shrine, returning along the old Tokaido.
We can arrange this as a private itinerary, with a car and a private guide. WhatsApp us.
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