Fuji Five Lakes Wind Cave

One of the most famous lava caves in the region

George Popescu May 22, 2014 - 1 min read

<p>The entrance to the cave has a warning sign and some slippery stairs made of natural rocks.</p>

<p>There's a lot of natural ice in the cave, but some ice is also brought here for storage.</p>

<p>You are here. There's many maps around so you won't get lost; the place names are also written in English.</p>

<p>This is the entrance to the cave where you need to pay for your ticket; it's a very modern entrance.</p>

<p>There are lights inside the cave so that you can see the large blocks of ice stored here.</p>

<p>The cave walkway slopes around corners as well as going up and down from time to time.</p>

<p>Some parts of the cave are in darkness which makes you think there's something hiding in the darkness.</p>

<p>The ceiling is very low in many places so you have to bend at the waist and always watch your head!</p>

<p>Some local people also store other things in the cave such as acorns and silkworm cocoons.</p>

<p>Natural ice (stalactite) hanging from the ceiling of the cave. Stalagmites, ice coming up from the ground, can be found too.</p>

<p>Reflection of the winding road through the mountains and hills near the cave.</p>

<p>One of the roads that's used by locals to go around the nearby towns and villages.</p>

On a relatively warm day in February I took a day trip towards the Fuji Five Lakes area to visit the so-called wind cave. This is an underground lava cave, in which the temperature pretty much stays around zero degrees throughout the whole year and it is therefore used for storage. While the official name of this particular cave is wind cave (fuketsu - 風穴), I would rather call it an ice cave. In any case it was fascinating, not too cold and there were stalagmites and stalactites everywhere, which you can touch or even lick them if you're close enough. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in caves or natural parts of Mount Fuji.

George Popescu @george.popescu

I was born in Bucharest, Romania and after a brief stay in London, England I settled and lived in Toronto, Canada for 20 years. I moved to Tokyo in late 2013 and have lived here ever since. I enjoy exploring the city with my camera as well as going to many special events that Tokyo has to offer e...