Speedrunning Japan's Tallest Mountain

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!

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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…

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
Adobe Suite
Vecteezy
Pexels
Jitter

Camera: DJI Osmo 3
Mic: DJI Mic
Program: Adobe Premiere

Editors:
Ben
Jassica James

hi

[JLawL]

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 Youtube, we could potentially break this world record.

[finalbossmichael]

This is the earliest I've been on seeing your guys' content. A few months ago I fell down the YouTube 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.

[Dragonmoon]

Enjoyed how you constantly contradicted yourselves throughout the video.

"They were almost there."

"They were, in fact, NOT, almost there."

😁

[Greguk]

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

[KnockKnockShows]

You're both very natural and funny narrators. This video is high enough quality to be on TV.

[gblack]

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!

[samuelmelendez]

87 year's old and still climbing the mountain, the old man's got spunk

[N_N_N]

This was super fun to watch. I'd love longer videos, but the way this one was cut was good too, flowed quite nicely.

[ifeelgroggy]

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.

[brandonpillay]

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!

[eshan]

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.

[bikecommuter]

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"😀

[maikerugo]

…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!

[patricklechner]

This was awesome and you guys crushed it! Yayyy!!

[johndorian]

Ben really was enjoying the whole time but Megan looked like she aged 5 years with the climb😄

[Warburtonbread]

The very definition of wholesome content. Great job, guys! I hope you managed to catch your breath!

[Antrunswag]

I look forward to you guys creating more videos. I love seeing the culture of Japan and you do a great job explaining it!

[thatjeff]

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.

[amrastheluckywoof]

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.

[justynamatusik-md]

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!