Our guide brought us to this restored village and we started by sampling some peach green tea (cold) and mushroom "tea" (hot) and ended up buying some of both to take home. Walked over to the restored house and walked through; very interesting to see what life was like decades ago. Took pics with Mt. Fuji in the background. Unfortunately the weather wasn't great, so the pics didn't come out like you imagine. Fed the Koi in the pond and walked through the shop. A little on the touristy side (they were selling Mt. Fuji everything, including some things that had nothing to do with the mountain itself). All in all a nice stop on our tour.

Somewhere you wouldn’t necessarily put on the “must do” list when visiting Japan, but nice to travel through and take a leisurely walk through a very picturesque, restored village. Tranquil with beautiful, clear rivers and pools . Many food stalls along the way and a nice relaxed atmosphere. Lovely as a stop off to/ from Mount Fuji. A bit of a tourist trap!

I don’t think this place is must visit place while you’re travelling around Mt. Fuji and Laek Kawaguchi. If you have limited time you can skip it. But if you have plenty of time you may visit it. It was just an average nice village with ponds and some restaurants.

The view of Mt. Fuji from Oshino-Hakkai are among the best we've seen. The site is relatively close to Mt. Fuji and the mountain is seen from across the water, making for great photos, both in the morning and evening.

We took the 8 am A1 bus from bus stop number 6 at Kawaguchiko station and stopped at bus stop number 25. From this bus stop, we crossed the road and walked past a car park to reach the amazing view of the fully boomed cherry trees on both sides of a river and clearly visible Mt Fuji in the background. There is one bridge along the river with the best view of cherry blossoms and Mt Fuji. Entry is free. We also saw some ponds with its very clear water. Oshino Hakkai are a set of eight ponds located in the Fuji Five Lakes area, on the site of a former sixth lake that dried out several centuries ago. The eight ponds are fed by snowmelt from the slopes of Mount Fuji that filters down the mountain through porous layers of volcanic rock over a period of several decades. This makes the mineral-rich pond waters remarkably clear and pristine. Oshino Hakkai are part of the Mt. Fuji UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site, designated in 2013. There are regular A1, F1 and F2 buses plying between Kawaguchiko Station and Oshino Hakkai. First bus there is at 6:50 and the last bus back is at 19:07.

Because of the weather, we could not see Mt Fuji. The village, however, was worth to visit. We enjoyed walking around to watch the beautiful ponds and houses, as well as taste the food at reasonable price. There were couple sakura trees along the river, beautiful enough to stop and take picture.

Definitely get there early & avoid the crowds. Be aware that there are numerous lakes dotted around the village - not all together. It's worth doing some wandering & exploring - as the main 5 lakes are together & others further out. The village is pretty & the residents friendly & helpful. The main lakes area has numerous eating venues, drinks machines, seating area & toilets. The reflection in the lakes of Mount Fuji is great. Some areas need a ticket to enter & be aware of the opening times. The area is all level so easy access & walking. There are buses - not so frequent & taxis, if your travelling independently

Mt Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan at 3776 m tall. The symmetrically elegant mountain is the icon of Japan. Many tourists like me flock our way from Tokyo to the Fuji 5-lake region at the base of the mountain just to admire her awe-inspiring and magnificent view. But Mt Fuji is still an active volcano and is destined to erupt though her last eruption was 300 years ago in 1707. More than 100,000 people died during that disaster. Seismic experts have raised the alarm that Mt Fuji has entered a standby phase for the first time in 300 years and may erupt anytime in 30 years following a major Nankai Trough earthquake. I wonder what would happen to this touristy village when Mt Fuji erupts? But why 杞人忧天 as if the sky will collapse. I think the Japanese government is prepared and is monitoring the seismic activities of this volcano very closely especially when there is an earthquake at the nearby region. Coming back to this small touristy village, Oshino Hakkai (忍野八海); it located at the base of Mt Fuji between Lake KawaguchiKo and Lake Yamanakako, has 8 ponds (八海) formed as a result of melted snow filter down from Mt Fuji through layer of porous lava resulting in very clear spring water. Entrance to the village is free. We were happy for a short while when we could see Mt Fuji from the very first pond near to the entrance. But it was just a very short glimpse and then the cloud started covering part of her beautiful face. I wandered around and could smell the aromatic smell of the grilled squid at a food stall. We tasted some wasabi nuts, and some pickled vegetables at some of the food stalls. The village looks rustic and serene with the thatched roof cottages like what we saw at Shirakawa go village. When snow shrouded these houses, the view would be picturesque. I was trying to find all the 8 ponds around the village as if on a treasure hunt but halfway, I was distracted by the ice cream stall, and I just lost count of how many ponds I came by. There is a signage near the pond which forbade the throwing of coins into the ponds as these ponds are not wishing ponds. We were here for an hour. When the bus was departing, I took a last look at Mt Fuji and I shuddered. What if it really erupts?