Mount Fuji (Fujisan) is with 3776 meters Japan’s highest mountain. It is not surprising that the nearly perfectly shaped volcano has been worshipped as a sacred mountain and experienced big popularity among artists and common people. Mount Fuji is a dormant volcano standing on the border between Yamanashi and Shizuoka Prefectures and can be seen from Tokyo and Yokohama on clear days. The easiest way to view Mount Fuji is from the train on a trip along the Tokaido Line between Tokyo and Osaka. If you take the shinkansen from Tokyo in direction of Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka, the best view of Mount Fuji can be enjoyed from around Shin-Fuji Station on the right hand side of the train, about 40 to 45 minutes after leaving Tokyo. If you want to enjoy Mount Fuji at a more leisurely pace and from a nice natural surrounding, you should head to the Fuji Five Lake (Fujigoko) region at the northern foot of the mountain, or to Hakone, a nearby hot spring resort.

For those who want to get closer, try climbing Mount Fuji which is officially open for climbing during July and August via several routes. During the two months, the mountain is usually free of snow, the weather is relatively mild, access by public transportation is easy and the mountain huts are open. Everybody without much hiking experience is strongly advised to tackle the mountain during the official climbing season.

How to climb?
Mount Fuji is divided into ten stations with the first station at the foot of the mountain and the tenth station being the summit. Paved roads go as far as the fifth station, which is around 1400 to 2400 meters above sea level.
There are four 5th stations on different sides of the mountain, from where most people start their climbing:

To Kawaguchiko 5th Station:
There are many highway buses from Shinjuku in central Tokyo directly to the 5th Station (2,600 Yen, 140 minutes one way). There are also about three buses per day from Shin-Fuji Station on the Tokaido Shinkansen directly to the 5th Station (3,440 Yen, 160 minutes).

Furthermore, there are frequent buses between Kawaguchiko Station and the 5th Station (55 minutes, 2,000 Yen round trip).

To Fujinomiya 5th Station:
There are direct buses to the 5th Station from Shin-Fuji Station (135 minutes) and Mishima Station (125 minutes) on the Tokaido Shinkansen, Fuji Station (130 minutes) on the local JR Tokaido Line and Fujinomiya Station (100 minutes) on the JR Minobu Line. A round trip costs 3000 Yen.

To Subashiri and Gotemba 5th Stations:
There are buses from Gotemba Station on the JR Gotemba Line to the Gotemba 5th Station (40 minutes, 1500 Yen round trip) and to the Subashiri 5th Station (60 minutes, 2000 Yen round trip).

To reach Gotemba from Tokyo, take the JR Tokaido Line to Kozu (75 minutes) and transfer to the JR Gotemba Line to Gotemba (45 minutes). Alternatively take the Odakyu Line from Shinjuku to Matsuda (80 minutes) and transfer to the JR Gotemba Line to Gotemba (30 minutes).

To reach Gotemba from Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka, take the Tokaido Shinkansen to Mishima, backtrack one station to Numazu by the local JR Tokaido Line (5 minutes) and transfer to the JR Gotemba Line to Gotemba (35 minutes).

More information at http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6901.html