Overnight stay at lake Kawaguchi

I'm travelling by JR rail from Tokyo to Hiroshima and would like to detour for one night at Lake Kawaguchi to view Mt Fuji. Is this feasible and what would be the most efficient route? Is it worth the effort and would the trip from Kawaguchi-ko to Hiroshima be too difficult to do in one day?

Is it worth the effort and would the trip from Kawaguchi-ko to Hiroshima be too difficult to do in one day?

You can see the route on googlemap. Select Kawaguchiko station as the starting point and JR Hiroshima station as the destination.

I t will take about 6 hours but but you will see various routes. The fastest is to take bus to JR Mishima station, transfer to Kodama or Hikari Shinkansen to somewhere (maybe Nagoya or Kyoto) and then transfer to Nozomi Shinkansen to Nagoya. If you want to use some kind of JR pass, your route is somewhat limited: If you use Japan Rail Pass 7 days, you can't ride on Nozomi (you can ride Hikari and Sakura).

As for whether it is worthwhile, I wasnt a real fan of the Lake Kawaguchi area, but seeing the mountain looming up is pretty unreal and I'm glad we did. If you got there mid to late afternoon, and then planned to leave at maybe 9 or 10 the next day, you'd have a good chance of seeing the mountain in all it's glory.

Is it worthwhile is subjective. I find Kawaguchiko over-rated, over priced and not a particularly attractive place to stay. Seeing Fuji-close up - fine for a few minutes, but given the place is on a spur of the rail network and a PITA to get to/from when going other places, it adds a lot of travel time, even if the bus to Mishima is better than back-tracking via Tokyo.
Lots of other places to see Fuji from. The few occasions I have had to stay in Kawaguchiko, actual time when Fuji was visible was around 15 minutes.

Kawaguchiko is not exactly a detour. It's a totally different route. Going back from Kawaguchiko to Hiroshima, you would need to go pretty far back towards Tokyo (relatively speaking) in order to resume your route towards Hiroshima.

Kawaguchiko is quite upmarket and very touristy. There's a reason for that - if the weather favours you, it's bloody amazing. But this truly requires an element of luck. As said before, if your goal is just to see Mt Fuji, there are other places where you can do that, places that are less of a detour.

But it's possible that you're also wanting to visit Kawaguchiko for its other attractions. The Chureito Pagoda, the caves, some of the onsen perhaps, and maybe even a hike over Mt Koyodai. If you factor those places in as well, the mountain almost becomes a happy side-effect.

Thank you for your feedback. I have decided not to visit Kawaguchi and will now travel from Tokyo to Kyoto. If the weather is kind to me, will there be views of Fuji-san on my rail trip?

thany:
you would need to go pretty far back towards Tokyo (relatively speaking) in order to resume your route towards Hiroshima.

Actually you can take a route without getting back to Tokyo.
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6905.html?aFROM=2158_6900

thany:
But it's possible that you're also wanting to visit Kawaguchiko for its other attractions.
The Chureito Pagoda, the caves, some of the onsen perhaps, and maybe even a hike over Mt Koyodai.

This "Chureito Pagoda" seems to be the Pagoda in Fujiyoshida City, not Fujikawaguchiko Town.
I have not been there, but it seems popular for photogenic sights during the cherry blossom season.
(I wonder whether tourists visiting Chūreitō Pagoda know what a Chūreitō primarily means.)

If the weather is kind to me, will there be views of Fuji-san on my rail trip?

You can make a side trip to Hakone.
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5200.html
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5206.html?aFROM=2164_5200

Maybe you can see Mount Fuji from the Shinkansen platform of Shin-Fuji Station.
Most Shinkansen trains skip Shin-Fuji Station,
and trains which make stop there are all KODAMA trains.
Therefore, to disembark at Shin-Fuji, you have to use the slowest KODAMA service.
If you don't mind traveling more slowly, you might hope to try your luck there.
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2018_tokaido.html

When you take two or more Shinkansen trains to get to Kyōto,
as long as you are inside the Shinkansen gate,
you pay the Shinkansen surcharge for the route Tōkyō -- Kyōto.
(If you go outside the Shinkansen gate of Shin-Fuji Station,
you should pay the surcharges separately
for the sections Tōkyō -- Shin-Fuji and Shin-Fuji -- Kyōto.)