Tokyo to Lake Kawaguchi for a large family.
Only eight minutes apart. What decides it is frequency and luggage.
The highway bus takes about 1 hour 45 minutes and runs 49 times a day; the Fuji Excursion limited express is 1 hour 53 minutes at its fastest but runs four return trips a day, all seats reserved. If securing six seats is your first priority, the bus is the default answer.
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First, the premiseIf you have just landed
This article starts from boarding at Shinjuku. But there are direct highway buses from Narita and Haneda that skip central Tokyo altogether. They remove the whole business of changing trains at Shinjuku with six people's luggage, so if you are heading to Lake Kawaguchi on arrival day, this is the real answer.
There are direct buses from Haneda and Narita Official source
You can reach Kawaguchiko Station from the airport without changing, and without going into Shinjuku. On all of them, children below school age travel free on a lap (a child fare applies if they take a seat).
Not travelling on arrival day makes the logistics easier
If you are handling six seats and six sets of luggage, spending a night in Tokyo first gives you slack. A delayed arrival then does not force you to rebook the next day's seats.
Arriving from Kansai or Chubu
Direct routes from Osaka and Nagoya are not covered here. Please read this on the assumption that you come via Tokyo.
| From | Journey | Adult fare | Booking opens |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shinjuku (Busta Shinjuku) | About 1 h 45 min | From 2,200 yen 2,000 yen paying online | One month before, same date |
| Shinagawa | About 2 h | From 2,300 yen | Same date, previous month |
| Haneda Airport | About 2 h 50 min | 3,300 yen | Same date, previous month fixed-departure; same-day possible if seats remain |
| Narita Airport Terminal 3 | About 3 h 40 min | From 6,000 yen children from 3,000 yen | One month before (same date, previous month) |
Airport departures are limited in number. Do not leave six seats to chance on the day.
Highway bus departures per day (both directions).
The Fuji Excursion has only four return trips a day.
The times are near enough equal. What differs is how many run each day
There is little point choosing on speed. The bus takes about 1 hour 45 minutes, the Fuji Excursion 1 hour 53 minutes at best. On the timetable, service 3 leaves Shinjuku at 07:30 and arrives at Kawaguchiko at 09:28, so anything but the fastest train is roughly two hours.
With 49 buses a day, a full departure simply means shifting to another time. The Fuji Excursion runs four return trips daily (with one extra service in some seasons). The fare is 2,200 yen per adult from Busta Shinjuku south exit to Kawaguchiko Station by bus, and 4,200 yen on the train (2,580 yen ticket plus a 1,620 yen limited express supplement), as of August 2026.
| Item | Highway bus (Shinjuku–Fuji Five Lakes line) | Fuji Excursion limited express |
|---|---|---|
| Journey (Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko) | About 1 h 45 min | 1 h 53 min at best |
| Services per day | 49 in both directions | Four return trips daily (plus one extra in some seasons) |
| Adult, one way | 2,200 yen (2,000–2,200 yen depending on section and season) | 4,200 yen (2,580 ticket + 1,620 supplement) |
| Children | Half the adult fare = 1,100 yen | Not confirmable on the official pages (not covered here) |
| Six adults, one way | 13,200 yen | 25,200 yen |
| Seating | Four abreast, all reserved (booking required) | All seats reserved (no non-reserved seats) |
| For Fuji-Q Highland | Stops there (same fare) | Stops at Fuji-Q Highland Station |
The maximum number of people in a single Ekinet application.
From the seventh person, you are splitting the booking in two.
Six seats together are actually harder on the train
The Fuji Excursion has no non-reserved seating. You need a reserved limited express ticket or an unassigned-seat ticket. And since those reserved seats exist on only four return trips a day, getting six together in a busy season is not straightforward.
It calls at Shinjuku, Tachikawa, Hachioji, Otsuki, Tsuru-Bunka-Daigaku-mae, Shimoyoshida, Mount Fuji, Fuji-Q Highland and Kawaguchiko. On a day when you are heading straight to the park, a train that reaches Fuji-Q Highland Station without a change has its uses. What to do at the park is set out in our one-day plan for Fuji-Q Highland and Lake Kawaguchi.
And for families of five or more there is one more wall: Ekinet takes a maximum of six people per application.
The Ekinet Q&A states plainly that "the maximum number of people per application is six" and that "you may submit two pre-registrations, but there are cases where only one of the two results in a reservation".
Tickets go on sale at 10:00, one month before the travel date. From 14:00 one week before that (the same weekday) you can enter an "Ekinet pre-registration" (up to 10 per travel date, each with up to three choices). The more your family has to be split into two applications, the more this pre-registration is worth using.
At seven or more, moving to the bus is simply the realistic choice. With 49 departures a day, neither the six-person wall nor the four-return-trip wall applies.
Six seats — check availability now
Every seat on the highway bus is reserved. Until you enter your party size and look at the seat map, you cannot know whether six will come out together. You can book a direct service from Tokyo to Kawaguchiko Station on a booking screen available in several languages.
*The operator states that it will "do its best to seat travelling companions together", but adjacent seats are not guaranteed. Children below school age travel free on a lap; a child fare applies if they take a seat. Please check the latest fares and timetables on the booking screen.
Items per person allowed in the underfloor hold.
That is 12 for six people — but if the hold is full, they may not fit.
Two items per person. Pushchairs are folded and stowed
The booking site states that the underfloor hold takes up to two items per person, each within 50 cm × 60 cm × 120 cm and 30 kg (this varies by operator). What you can take on board is one item per person, of a size that fits on the rack or under the seat.
Pushchairs go "folded, into the hold" Official source
The Fujikyu Bus Q&A says explicitly that "wheelchairs and pushchairs may be folded and stowed in the underfloor luggage hold". This is different from the railways, where you do not have to fold. If you want it the moment you step off, think about the order in which you load.
Oversized items depend on the day
Skis, snowboards, folding bicycles, golf bags and the like may be refused if the coach is busy or space is short. The operator accepts no liability for loss or damage to items in the hold.
Suica and PASMO do not work on the highway bus
Fujikyu Bus states in its official Q&A that "PASMO and Suica cannot be used on highway buses". Producing an IC card as you would on a Tokyo train will not get you aboard. Booking all six in advance is in the end the fastest route.
A family of six can in theory check twelve items, but the question is less the count than whether they physically fit. If your suitcases are large, sending them ahead to the property is the surer route. How to do that is in our guide to forwarding luggage in Japan, and the etiquette of taking a pushchair on trains and buses is in our pushchair travel guide.
An honest note: what we could not confirm
Here is what we deliberately left out, with the reason.
We do not list child fares for the train
We could not confirm the child fare for the Fuji Excursion on the official pages. The fare comparison is therefore made on adult fares only. For the total with children, please check the actual booking screen.
We also could not confirm every detail of reserved-seat sales
Sales open at 10:00 one month before the travel date, pre-registration from 14:00 one month and one week before (the same weekday), and a single application covers up to six people — all of that we confirmed officially. But whether two applications for seven or more end up in adjacent seats is nowhere guaranteed. An element of luck remains.
Bus booking opens "one month before, on the same date"
The Shinjuku–Fuji Five Lakes line accepts bookings "from the same date one month before travel until 30 minutes before the first departure". The Haneda and Narita airport lines also open on the same date of the previous month. Even with 49 departures a day, we would not advise assuming six seats will be free if you turn up on the day.
Luggage rules get revised
The counts and sizes here are as of August 2026. In fact, the wording of the guidance has changed within a matter of days. Check the current notice before you travel.
We did not research the Otsuki interchange route
As a fallback when the limited express is full, there is the Chuo Line plus the Fujikyuko Line. We have not verified its times or fares, so it is not covered here.
The direct bus from Haneda Airport to Kawaguchiko Station.
You reach the lake without changing at Shinjuku.
Tokyo to Lake Kawaguchi: FAQ
Can our two-year-old sit on a lap? Is there a fare?
Free on a lap; a child fare if they occupy a seat (highway bus, official). Whether a child can manage 1 h 45 min to 3 h 40 min on a lap is another matter, so counting them in when you book seats is the safer approach.
On the railways the categories are: adult = 12 and over / child = 6 to 12 / a six-year-old who has not yet started school counts as an infant.
Can we book six seats in one go on Ekinet?
Yes. But six is the maximum per application, so six is right at the limit. Seven or more must be split into two applications, and the Ekinet Q&A states plainly that "there are cases where only one of the two results in a reservation". For families of seven or more, the bus, with its 49 daily departures, is the surer bet.
So which should we choose?
At six or more, with flexible timing, take the highway bus. It also costs less than half. If your arrival time is fixed and you have the seats, take the Fuji Excursion. The journey times are nearly identical, so if in doubt, decide on frequency.
Can we take a pushchair on the bus?
According to the Fujikyu Bus Q&A, it can be folded and stowed in the underfloor hold. Handling varies by operator, though, so check before booking on services run by other companies. On the railways there is no need to fold it (our pushchair travel guide).
Can we get around without a car once we arrive?
There are places to stay that work without a car, such as whole-house rentals ten minutes on foot from Kawaguchiko Station. How to choose one is in one whole house for a large family at Lake Kawaguchi. For getting around the lake, a one-day sightseeing bus pass costs 1,500 yen for adults and 750 yen for children.
We have six or more large suitcases.
The hold takes two per person, so for six people the count is fine. But each item must be within 50 cm × 60 cm × 120 cm and 30 kg (varies by operator), and oversized items can be refused depending on the day. If you are unsure about the size, send them ahead to the property.
Read these next to make the Fuji trip easier
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