Top Ten Japan Classic Adventures

Attempt Japan's most famous peak and learn how the country got the moniker "Land of the Rising Sun." Mount Fuji—towering peak and national symbol—hovers at just over 12,000 feet. Start your climb in Fujinomiya City at Sengen Gingu, the main Shinto shrine whose followers worship the sleeping volcano. You'll hike through city streets, scrub, and forest before finally reaching the rocky tree line of 5th Station, the halfway point to the peak at 10th Station.

Want to add to the challenge? Climb by flashlight and sleep with 40 other climbers in a station house. Your reward is seeing the dawn sun from the highest place in the nation, quite something in the Land of the Rising Sun. To reach the mountain's base, take the Bullet Train to Fuji City, and the local train to Fujinomiya.