Speedrunning Japan's Tallest Mountain
Вставка
- Опубліковано 10 лют 2025
- We set a world record for climbing Mt. Fuji! Sort of...
Huge thanks to Ruy Ueda, the fastest man to ever climb Japan’s tallest mountain, Mount Fuji! And especially thanks for chatting with us after our climb!
Business email: hitobitomedia@gmail.com
Social Links:
► / hito.bito
► / the.hito.bito
Support Us
► Become a Member - / @thehitobito
Who are Megan and Ben?
► Megan - I’ve tried to write this like five times so let's do bullet points:
I grew up in America, then lived in Germany, then China, and now Japan (and took Ben with me)
I’m an absolute fiend for walkable cities
Watching Inuyasha as a 10 year old on Adult Swim had an irreversible butterfly effect on my decision to live in Japan
You could call me Miss Worldwide - believe me, been there, done that
► Ben - I sacrificed my soul in another life to become entertaining. I think I got scammed tbh…
I make music: distrokid.com/...
After finding success on TikTok and Instagram, we moved to Tokyo to find jobs and continue our creative efforts! We now live in Tokyo and are making videos all the time!
Source for assets:
Epidemic Sounds - here's a free trial!
share.epidemic...
Vecteezy
Pexels
Jitter
Camera: DJI Osmo 3
Mic: DJI Mic
Program: Adobe Premiere
Editors:
Ben
Jassica James
hi
September 9 2025 - my 40th birthday - my wife and I are climbing Fuji, and she's a redhead. So if I record the whole thing and post it to UA-cam, we could potentially break this world record.
Please do it the day after, I beg you 😭
@@JLawL OH NO 🤣
Interesting
damn
@@thehitobito why?
This is the earliest I've been on seeing your guys' content. A few months ago I fell down the UA-cam rabbit hole and ended up watching a ton of your Shorts. I never quite fell out of the rabbit hole and have enjoyed watching your stuff.
That's great to hear! We're trying to ramp up the long videos!
I climbed Mount Fuji when I was 19 which was 27 years ago! I did the night climb to catch the sunrise at the summit. I stupidly didn’t use oxygen and had heart palpitations for my entire climb. Luckily they passed as soon as I started my descent. Ran into a 70 year old man who had a black belt in karate. He made it look so easy and it was his first time!
Good for you!! Some of these old dudes are super in shape! Climbing is difficult but very rewarding:)
Enjoyed how you constantly contradicted yourselves throughout the video.
"They were almost there."
"They were, in fact, NOT, almost there."
😁
Thank you for a really amazing video. I have never seen the trip up mount Fuji. The record is astonishing 2 hours, 27 minutes, and 41 seconds. This feat required a lot of endurance from you both. very well done. I would love to do this trip one day
Thanks so much! We tried to make it short, fun and informative :)
Think this video really succeeded in capturing the spirit and feel of your short form videos but in a longer form and is super well put together- especially as you have only done a few like this. I look forward to more longer videos from you guys.
We're learning as quick as we can!
Ive been to japan only once and fell in love ever since with the place and culture. Found your youtube channel and have been following your content ever since you were still teaching as an English teacher. Seeing this video is just so wholesome. Love Ben's positivity and humor here haha. Keep up with this simple yet wholesome videos!
I almost thought that you were going to say "Fell from mount fuji" 😂😂.. Btw glad that u didnt
Lots more to come!
You're both very natural and funny narrators. This video is high enough quality to be on TV.
This is such a nice comment, genuinely made Ben and me smile ☺️
This was super fun to watch. I'd love longer videos, but the way this one was cut was good too, flowed quite nicely.
87 year's old and still climbing the mountain, the old man's got spunk
That old man got the knees of a god
I loved every single thing about this vlog. The intro, the fun facts, the "plan", the funny side comments etc. Love the fact that your vlog was so realistic and there was no attempt to make the entire trip "glamorous". Please keep making content like this!! We need this in the world.
6:19 yeah, much needed encouragement right there.
I look forward to you guys creating more videos. I love seeing the culture of Japan and you do a great job explaining it!
…and that view? Absolutely breathtaking. Though in all seriousness congratulations! It's a tough climb that makes the long, steep trip up to many temples and shines short walks in comparison!
This reminds me of the climbing ordeal my husband and I had on Mount Fuji in 2016. We didn’t want to stay overnight at the top (for financial reasons), so we had to do a speed run to catch a bus at 5 a.m. and return to the bus station by 7 p.m. for the last bus back to the city.
We prepared for this challenge three months in advance because we had read that the climb wasn’t easy. That meant hiking up and down a mountain every day. We managed it-and even caught an earlier bus! However, everything was just as you described. At the top, there was no beautiful view; we couldn’t see anything, couldn’t breathe properly, and we were swollen from the low pressure. Everything hurt.
We thought, ‘Now it’s just downhill; it can’t get any worse.’ That was a mistake. The descent was a nightmare. It is a pity that you do not mention it.
Afterward, I finally understood the Japanese saying: ‘A wise man climbs Mount Fuji once, a fool climbs it twice.’ We’re glad we’ll never have to repeat it!
I want to climb Mt Fuji one of these days.
Don't worry about your speed performance times, People who live at or train at high altitudes have more red blood cells (RBC) to handle the lower oxygen levels. (fun fact its the kidneys that trigger it they sense a low level of oxygen in the blood)
I recently did a Half-Marathon which had a LOT of hills and the race people kept telling its just down the road and down the road and down the road, I'm 62 and when you tell me its down road not just waaay down the road
🤣
And someone who uses a walking stick and hiking poles, two poles work better than on and make sure they are adjusted for your height that makes a big difference. unless you call this trip "been there done, that"😀
Wow! Doing a half marathon is no joke, and even more so at 62! Good on you for taking care of yourself, we hope to be doing the same thing :)
This was awesome and you guys crushed it! Yayyy!!
you need way more views. you have a way of narrating in such a funny way but also a balanced way that is so nice to listen to . unlike other youtubers of that kind even your editing is not over the top but just is right. i hope you stay tho "authentic" like this and wont later end up also with super good equipment, tons of production teams etc. xD i mean would be good for your money bag but ...its nice to have one normal settled down couple hahahah
Love your videos, specially the ones that bring back some good memories like this one.Did the night walk with a pause at station 7 in hope to see the sunrise, but because of a storm that didn't happen. While i dream of someday doing it again i keep watching your content for both entertainment and to learn a few things.
Thank you for the video. I climbed Mt. Fuji 5 years ago. I was 39 and not in the best of shape, but I made it and got to see the sunrise from the top. I went with a group and stayed at one of the station 8 buildings to rest and sleep before making the summit. It was an amazing moment for me.
The very definition of wholesome content. Great job, guys! I hope you managed to catch your breath!
LOVE the longer style videos. I really enjoy hiking, but haven’t done it much recently, so this was nice!
Ben really was enjoying the whole time but Megan looked like she aged 5 years with the climb😄
Man no make up, doesn't appear to age, lots of makeup, lots of "age" gained.... It's pretty typical on nature hikes
Not necessary to comment on someone’s appearance
@@malkavianloner8808 She looks completely fine even at the end of the hike tho?
I'm always hyped when you post a long form video
I feel so bad i didn't watch your videos before 😭, theyre so good, keep up the amazing work, the editing and commentary is great! ❤
I was in Japan in August and we drove past Mt Fuji THREE times and each time, it was obscured by rain/fog. I’m so jealous of you!
6:21 Ben knew what he was doing
🗿🥂
Who wouldn't follow that up a mountain!
Yes, a very beautiful view. He did seem to stay “behind” her most of the way.
This is awesome congratulations
Amazing work you two!! 👏 That was a fun video! Always enjoy the Japanese animation and humor throughout 👍🙌😊
Happy Birthday Megan!! That's awesome you posted this video
Megan gave out Sanza Stark vibe while you guys were standing in the fog.. 👍🏽😁
The meme references in this video are hilarious. You guys are cultured lol.
Yay more long form content!! My fiancé and I have been using your videos to plan our honeymoon in Japan!
Honestly blown away with the editing. You guys didn’t have to go this hard but I’m glad you did lol 🙏
"As the oxygen levels drop 30% on the mountain"
Haha can confirm in a very stressful way.
We climbed Mt. Fuji as part of a school trip in '98. Took a bus up as high as it went (5th station? 6th station?) and waited cause our plan was to climb the easy route and night, nap up there, and get to the summit for sunrise.
We get up to the nap point (and man are the stations on Fuji so much nicer these days lol), take the nap, and our teacher has me hang back with one of the kids that was going slower (instead of herself or one of the other 2 adults). Few more hours and the rest of the group is separated from us and gets to the summit but we can't see them cause cloud cover. Girl that was going slower was suffering from altitude sickness. So we wait, hoping they'll come get us, but they aren't, give a message to two other hikers that passed us that spoke English that she was sick and we had to head back down.
Then begin the eight (I think?) hour climb back down (cause again easy route) trying not to freak out cause 1 - we're on our own separated from our group and 2 - they were originally going to take a different route down that would've put them like 30mi away from where we started the climb. So I kept telling my fellow student that we totally knew enough Japanese to get us back to the hotel in Tokyo lol.
Luckily we didn't have to put that to the test as they changed their route partway down and met up with us. The more I think back on it as an adult it baffles me that a teacher would leave two students alone...in a foreign country...on a mountain. But hey, now I have a cool story to tell...and no photos of the mountain cause at some point on the way down my disposable camera (again '98) fell out of my coat. 😢
Wow, the climb of Mount Fuji looks really tough. I'm no expert, but I can imagine the lack of oxygen is brutal.
Each new short and video of you both takes me back to my honeymoon trip to Japan in early spring in 2024.
Next challenge: Climb to the summit of Kilimanjaro. I've been told the gentle slope is deceptively hard and the best way to climb it is to pretend you're an old man with bad knees.
Absolutely love yalls channel so so much! Thank you for the videos! We’d love to see more, more often!
All of ur vids are entertaining as helllllll ❤❤
I believe In u guys u can do it! 🎉
Barely
who ever edits gets me laughing maaana omg lol.... great vid and nice commentary thanks for the fun facts i love having random fun facts
I literally heard the dream speedrunning music and I thought “Oh there for real, this isn’t clickbait” 😂 Also you guys need to post more vids
I love these long-form videos from you!!
Please more!!
I love new videos 😊 keep posting good content Megan and Ben!!
Your voiceover is literally so cool. You guys are very cool 😊
congratulations to the fastest youtuber couple to ever climb mount fuji on one of their birthdays and also one of them is a redhead!!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
Did fujinomiya route. On the bus to 5th station we passed a hiker running on the road at the base of the mountain. He beat us to the 8th station.
Make more long video's!! Love your content 😍
So many funny game references! Love it!!! (p.s what do you use to edit theses amazing videos?)
Adobe Premiere!
I hate hiking, but I'll give it a like for all the effort you guys went through
We need it haha
Ruy is such a nice guy!
wow . my boyfriend and i are runners . but this is amazing . MT Fungi is beautiful your videos are amazing thank you for showing us .
I bet you guys would have beat our time! But not our hyper specific world record haha
@@thehitobito we haven't trained for this yet. for sure you guys would beat our time .
First time watching you guys. Love your personalities. 🙂
Love it! Do you think captions would be an option for (future) videos? They really make accessibility easier
its cool how i found my friend Ben here. thx yt algorythm
Wouldn't have thought that you two would make a video like this but this is fun and I like it 😂
I tried it back in 2010ish and had horrible altitude sickness. Barely made it to the 8th Station. The idea was to go from 5th to 8th then sleep and adjust and get to the summit at sunrise. But couldn't move after the nap at the 8th Station. Going down the mountain was fun though! Using my walking stick as a rudder I basically slid down it. Probably not safe, but was very fast and relaxing in comparison.
This was a great video!!
When I first saw this channel, I fell in love with this channel. Your videos are so addictive and unique. Like in every short. You do something different not like others who do "Today I'm blah blah blah". Thank you guys for uploading this video! I only saw Mt. Fuji in anime. Didn't thought that it was real...
Fuji should be a Red Head only zone, and bucket hats have no right being so close to such natural beauty! Bad jokes aside, I truly admire your adventurous spirit and hope to see more asap x
0:50
I love you both for the minecraft fuji
Really am enjoy the content. Congrats on the world record!
You guys are awesome and so wholesome. I wanna be friends with yall lol! great video with great editing. Keep it up you two!!!
Enjoyed the speedrun splits and vocab lol. Wasnt expecting that from the channel i only knew the shorts from b
Really cool video! Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to more content from you both. I'd seen some of your shorts previously but only found your channel today.
This was awesome guys! I really do hope y'all had some good food after this.
Really great video with neat info about climbing Mt Fuji, you guys did great! A world record is a record! 😂
Watching this just reminds me of Chris' (Abroad in Japan) stories that he told on the Trash Taste Podcast. 😆
Also, hope to see more from you two in the future.
Woah! You guys must be sleeping after this run? Cause it's too much! Like it's three kilometres upward. Thanks for this marvellous video and appreciations for your efforts.❤❤❤
Wow! We have been to the top of Mauna Kea, and I know how hard it is to breathe at that height. But We did not Walk up there! Good job on making the climb!
Well my wife and I took more than 8 hours to get to the top, and I don't even want to begin about the descent. But we made it down before the last bus left, found a nice izakaya for dinner, and made it back to Tokyo before the last train. What an experience!
Hey Congrats from Argentina !!
Another banger video 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🙏🙏🙏
Congrats on the record!!
My husband took me on the hardest trail when i was 3 months pregnant and out of shape. I made it halfway and slept at a hut.
The construction workers chuckling after megan said "not really" was so wholesome
Wow you guys have a great spirit. Please keep it up.
@Megan and Ben what winter indoor hobbies do you have? Im a rock/gem and coin nerd for winter activies😂. Hobby lobby still has my supplies and there are plenty of coin shops and little shop like the Tuscon Gem and mineral show. Do you guys have dedicated shops for those winter hobbies. When i go to japan my jam will be searching for ancient Japanese coins and minerals specimens…. Maybe a few gundams and Pokémon plushees too😅. Anyways thanks for sharing this, super cool climb. Congrats!!
Idk if you guys made the effort with colour correction or the colours just look so pure and clean up there, so beautiful
Didn't do much at all with color correction! It's incredibly vibrant if it's a clear day
@@thehitobito omg as if I need more reason to visit japan
Amazing speedrun! Congratulations on your new worldrecord ❤🎉
Love this! Happy belated birthday!
When I climbed Mt. Fuji in the early 2000s at night at one of the stations the proprietor tried to get me to stay the night or pay to rest there. I remember him saying I could get lost and die, slip and fall from fatigue and die, get too cold and die. I kept going. Near the top it was totally congested on the trail. It took 9 hours to climb and 3 hours to descend. Great experience and memories.
Im happy when i watch your videos. Thanks for your efford
Love you guy's videos
More full length videos please 👍👍
- *She did NOTTT!*
The only video of megan and ben ragdogging we'll ever see.
Im here from the raw dawgjng short, really enjoyed the video, keep it up 🎉🎉
Subconsciously thinking what would Japan do please post more content 😊
yeay! full video posts now!
Ive hiked it twice now and I dont think I would ever attempt a speed run lol. Definitely a beast of a mountain.
You guys did great! Now THAT'S dedication. I wouldn't even be able to make it to the base lol
How am I just now discovering your long form content? AND its super enteraining!
They official website is not accurate if they say it takes 5 to 6 hours. Thank you very much for this video both of you. Now i know it takes 8 hours
When I was younger (around 16/17) I went camping and we went out on this super long hike. This reminds me of that except all of us kids ran up and down the 6 hour hike in about 2 and a half hours lol. We just sprinted the whole thing and now I miss having all that stamina which is crazy cuz I’m only 22 now but I know I’m not that fast anymore😭😭😭
I only learned about Fuji climbing from JLPT N4 reading passage
I climbed this Mountain right before my study abroad was over. Its no joke. But the climb down was actually WORSE, because the loose dirt at that speed is KILLER when your legs are on fire.
We cut that whole part out cause we were miserable lol
Great Video!
In my opinion mt Fuji itself isn’t a very technical climb ( Yoshida route )
Note: do not attempt to climb mountains above 1000m in altitude at a fast pace
It can cause altitude sickness and possibly death if the climb goes wrong.
Either way congratulations 👍
A new world record for the tiny personal world of Megan and Ben at least. The private land thing was surprising.