Fuji is a region, not a view.
For many visitors, the Fuji Five Lakes begin and end with one thing: a view of Mt. Fuji.
We live here, and we think there is much more to see.
The lakes, forests, towns, local traditions, small businesses and people who live around the mountain are all part of the region. Fuji is the landmark that brings many people here, but it is not the whole story.
Fuji Tour Concierge exists to help visitors look a little further.
Why we created FTC
Fuji Tour Concierge was created by TAG Travel Japan in 2026.
The project originally grew out of our work with travel professionals looking for local knowledge and services around the Fuji Five Lakes. But as it developed, we began asking a simple question: why should that knowledge be useful only to travel agencies?
There is already a great deal of information about Mt. Fuji. What we felt was missing was a clearer picture of the region around it.
Much of what visitors see online is concentrated around a handful of famous viewpoints and social-media locations. Kawaguchiko receives most of the attention, while forests, other lakes, local history, everyday life and many worthwhile places remain much less visible.
FTC became our way of telling more of that story.
A local point of view
We are not trying to catalogue everything around the Fuji Five Lakes.
We focus on what we think helps people understand the region and spend better time here.
That can mean practical information for planning a trip, an activity worth trying, a place outside the usual route, a local event, a piece of history, or simply an explanation of something visitors might otherwise pass without noticing.
The people behind FTC live and work in the Fuji Five Lakes region. Through our daily work we are connected with local guides, accommodation providers, restaurants, activity operators and the people who live here.
That does not make us experts on everything.
It does mean that this is a place we know, care about and experience every day.
Less travel, more time here.
Many visitors experience Fuji as a short stop in a much larger trip. They arrive, photograph the mountain from one or two famous locations, and leave again the same day.
We think the region rewards a different approach.
Stay a little longer. Explore beyond the busiest areas. Walk through the forests. Spend time around the lakes. Learn something about the communities that developed here. Leave space in the itinerary to simply be here.
We would rather help someone understand a few places well than race through ten of them.
A region worth caring for
Living here also means paying attention to how the region is changing.
Tourism brings opportunities, but it also creates pressure. Forest management, waste, water quality and tourism development all affect the future of the Fuji Five Lakes.
We do not pretend to have solutions to all of these issues, and we do not believe grand statements are particularly useful on their own.
We simply want environmental responsibility to be part of how FTC thinks about the places and experiences it introduces, and to do what we reasonably can at our own scale.
For travel professionals
Working with the travel industry remains an important part of FTC's origins and purpose.
Travel agencies and tour operators have a significant influence on how visitors experience the Fuji Five Lakes. Helping them understand more of the region can also help their clients discover more than the usual itinerary.
Through TAG Travel Japan, travel professionals can access local support including bookings, guides and ground arrangements in the Fuji area.
For more information, visit our Travel Professionals page.
Looking beyond the mountain
Fuji Tour Concierge is ultimately a local information project about the Fuji Five Lakes.
We want to make the region easier to understand, easier to explore and more interesting to spend time in.
Mt. Fuji will always be at the centre of this landscape.
We just think it is worth looking around it too.