Mt. Fuji Helicopter Experience from Tokyo

Mt. Fuji from the air. The flight leaves the Tokyo area and runs out towards the mountain and the Lake Ashi country beneath it, with the city itself as the opening act.

The first minutes are Tokyo from above — the density of it, the rivers cutting through, and the Skytree standing clear of everything around it. It is a city that only makes sense from height.

Then the ground opens out and Fuji arrives. Seen from a helicopter the mountain reads differently than it does from a train window: you can see how isolated it is, rising alone out of flat country with nothing else near its height, and the Lake Ashi area sitting below in its shadow.

Every seat is a window seat, and there is nothing between you and the view but glass. Bring a camera — this is a flight people photograph continuously.

Helicopter flights depend on the weather, and Fuji makes its own: the mountain is clearest in the colder months and often hidden behind cloud in summer, whatever the forecast over Tokyo says. Flights can be delayed or rescheduled on the day for safety, which is the operator’s call and not a negotiable one. Briefings run in English and Japanese.