This article is based on a visit made on Wednesday, 16 November 2016.
Edit 3 October 2019: Updated prices to reflect the increase in Japan's national sales tax.
On the fourth morning of my holiday, it was finally time for me to leave Tokyo. The next phase of my trip was an overnight stay in the Fuji Five Lakes region, and my adventure would start with a visit to the Fuji-Q Highland (富士急ハイランド,
Fujikyū Hairando) theme park. This park is famous among thrill-seekers for its four fearsome, record-breaking roller-coasters. But despite the attention its mega-coasters may draw, Fuji-Q Highland has enough attractions for people seeking all levels of thrills.
I started in the morning by taking a highway bus from Tokyo Station, which stopped directly at Fuji-Q on its way around the Fuji Five Lakes. Unfortunately, the bus I had intended to take was fully booked, so I had to wait about two hours for the next available one, despite frequent departures. So, my time at my destination was cut short a bit, but I still managed to do almost everything I set out to. At the very least, the bus ride was comfortable, there was free Wi-Fi on board, and I even got to see a better variety of tree colours as we headed up into the mountains!
After stepping off the bus, I walked past this sign on my way to the entrance gates, saying that Fuji-Q was "JUST" 229 steps from that point. For some reason, the sign also lists the distances to
Yakushima (off the coast of Kagoshima, on Kyushu),
Oshamambe (on Hokkaido), Edo (150 years ago, since they then went by the name Tokyo), and
Kamui-Wakka (also on Hokkaido). I guess those are just some funny names by Japanese standards. Whether that theory is true or not, it clues you in to the sense of humour that Fuji-Q exhibits from time to time.
With my schedule pushed out of sorts, my first objective was to find some lunch. There are plenty of choices for both Japanese and Western dining at Fuji-Q, including the domestic fast-food chains Mos Burger and Pizza-La. The latter has a few Fuji-themed specialty slices, such as what I had: the Fujiyama Pizza. This wide slice includes pepperoni, tomatoes, onions, and cream cheese to simulate the snow cap of the eponymous mountain. I really liked it; in fact it was, quite frankly, the first halfway decent slice of pizza I had in Japan.
Fuji-Q Highland is perhaps most famous for its roller-coasters, which have each set some sort of record at the time they opened. First is Fujiyama, and no points for guessing what it's named after. Fujiyama opened in 1996, has a top height of 79 metres (259 feet), and a top speed of 130 km/h (81 mph), but does not go upside-down. It was a former record holder for the tallest and fastest roller-coaster in the world. (Although, I should say that the real Japanese name of Mt. Fuji is "Fuji-san". The character for "mountain" (山) is read either as "san" or "yama", and "san" is the correct reading in this context. Although, I suppose the use of "yama" could have been done ironically. But, grammar lectures aside...)
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| The hump (left) of the old Dodonpa coaster, taken in 2005. |
Dodonpa (ドドンパ) was a coaster that uses a compressed-air mechanism to launch cars from a stand-still to great speeds. It opened in 2001 and has a maximum speed of 172 km/h (107 mph), a former world record, and reaches that speed in only 1.8 seconds. It was closed for renovation when I visited, not that I would've wanted to ride it anyway. Dodonpa broke up its ludicrous speed with a straight-up-and-down hump (on the left in the above picture). It was closed for renovation during my visit, but in July 2017, it was re-opened as Do-Dodonpa (ド★ドドンパ), replacing the hump with a straight-up loop.
Eejanaika (ええじゃないか) is a "4th-dimension roller coaster", where the seats hang from either side of the track and rotate forwards and backwards separately. It opened in 2006, has a top height of 76 metres (249 feet), and a top speed of 126 km/h (78 mph). The track itself only inverts 3 times, but the seats go upside-down 14 times, a current (but disputed) world record.
Finally, we have Takabisha (高飛車, lit. 'high flying car'). It opened in 2011, has a top height of 43 metres (141 feet), a top speed of 100 km/h (62 mph), and a whopping 7 inversions. That does not include its centrepiece: near the end of the ride, the cars climb up a vertical ascent, stop at the top, then fall down a beyond-vertical, 121° drop, sort of like the shape of the letter "R". This has earned Takabisha a world record for the steepest drop on a roller coaster. Of the many ways this park offers to view Mt. Fuji, this has to be the most nerve-racking yet!
I should note that I did not actually ride any of those "big four" coasters. I'm actually afraid of heights, although not so much for just being flipped upside-down. Thus, PaniClock (also translated as "Panic Rock" because... Japanese) was the most intense ride I went on. It basically rolls you in loops backwards and forwards, or vice-versa, and was just within my comfort zone. Who knows, it may even train you for bigger and badder coasters!
Fuji-Q also has plenty of other, less... acrobatic rides. For example, this is the entrance to "Fuji Airways" (富士飛行社,
Fuji Hikōsha), a motion-theatre ride similar to "Soarin'" from Disney's California Adventure and Epcot, but with Mt. Fuji. Lots of Mt. Fuji. They even made up a backstory for this ride, about a family who set up bird-powered flights around the area since the Edo period.
Fuji-Q also has a number of amusement park mainstays, including a Ferris wheel, a merry-go-round, a Double Shot-style tower ride, and a log flume. The log flume is officially called "Cool Jappaan", and I have no idea why they spelled it like that.
They even have an ice-skating rink opened during the winter season, which apparently includes mid-November. As you can see, there wasn't much in the way of crowds on this weekday. This was a far cry from my previous experience at
Tokyo DisneySea, and
once again, I'm not complaining.
Fuji-Q even has a couple of haunted attractions, and like their coasters, they've turned them up to eleven. The "Super Scary Labyrinth of Fear" (絶凶・戦慄迷宮,
Zekkyō Senritsu Meikyū), with a route length of 900 metres (2,950 feet), is the longest haunted house in the world. The "GeGeGe Haunted Mansion" (ゲゲゲの妖怪屋敷,
Gegege no Yōkai Yashiki, pictured above), based on the anime/manga
GeGeGe no Kitaro (ゲゲゲの鬼太郎,
Gegege no Kitarō), is not. In fact, it looks quite tamer.
Even tamer is Thomas Land, a sort of "park within a park" based on
Thomas the Tank Engine, a British children's book and TV series. There are smaller rides here well-suited for smaller guests. For everyone else, there are photo spots with some of the main characters. Locations from the show have been integrated into some of the rides as well, such as the main station seen here.
I didn't go on any of the rides in Thomas Land, partly because I couldn't fit them into my now-abbreviated schedule, and partly because I felt myself too old, especially as a solo traveller. But since I grew up with the
Thomas the Tank Engine stories, that didn't stop me from snagging a few photo ops with my childhood pals!
Another world that the young ones might like is "La Ville de Gaspard et Lisa" (The Village of Gaspard and Lisa), based on a French childrens' book series about the eponymous dog/rabbit creature couple, seen above in standee form. "La Ville" is designed like a French townscape, complete with a miniature Eiffel Tower here because... France. It has a few restaurants, shops, a museum about Gaspard and Lisa, and a double-decker merry-go-round ride. This world lies outside of Fuji-Q Highland itself, so it is free to walk around in. And you will, if you're coming in by bus, since it stands in front of the south entrance.
Other facilities around the premises include the Highland Hotel and Spa, the Fujiyama Onsen public hot springs, and the Fujiyama Museum, devoted to artistic depictions of Mt. Fuji. They are located near each other directly south of the park. Admission to these facilities is separate from Fuji-Q Highland.
And finally, we come to Evangelion World, an indoor exhibit on the
Neon Genesis Evangelion anime franchise. But, being the fan that I am, I took so many pictures there that I'll have to give it its own article. Until next time!
Hours: Open from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, or to 6:00 PM on weekends and holidays. No regular closing days.
Costs: Free to enter; rides are ¥400-2,000 each. A one-day free pass and unlimited rides costs ¥5,900. Credit cards including MasterCard, Visa, Discover, and JCB are accepted.
Address: 5-6-1 Shin-Nishihara, Fujiyoshida-shi, Yamanashi-ken 〒403-0017
Access: Virtually all highway buses to the Fuji Five Lakes area stop at Fuji-Q Highland on their way to the region. From central Tokyo, buses depart from Shinjuku (2 hours, ¥1,850), Tokyo (2 hours, ¥2,000), and Shibuya (2½ hours, ¥2,000) stations, among others. Buses embark and disembark near the park's southern entrance.
The park is also directly adjacent to Fujikyu Highland Station on the Fujikyu line. From both Kawaguchi-ko and Fuji-san stations, it is only 2 minutes and ¥170 to Fujikyu Highland. The station is at the park's northern entrance.
