Negura Campground has been popping up on every camping account and blog list for Izu lately, and after taking my 5-year-old there with two other families, I get why. It’s not the biggest campsite you’ll find, and it’s not the place to go if Mt. Fuji is the entire point of your trip. But for the view it does give you, the facilities, and honestly just the feeling of the place, it’s one I’d send other families to without hesitating.
We went on a rainy weekend, which sounds like a downside and turned out to be the opposite. Everyone in our group camps a lot, so a little rain wasn’t going to change our plans, and because of the weather, the site was noticeably quieter than usual.
Fewer people meant more open ground for the kids to run around on, and we ended up setting up a game where the adults held snacks on a rope and let the kids jump and grab at them like a low-key piñata. That kind of space to just let kids be loud and move around is not something you get at every campground near Tokyo, so if you’re traveling with young kids, that alone might sell you on this place.
Quick Facts About Negura Campground
Negura Campground sits about 350 meters up in Kannami, Shizuoka, right at the base of the Izu Peninsula. It operates year-round, only closing on Thursdays between April and October for grass maintenance. Keep in mind that this is strictly a tent and car camping site, so you won’t find any cabins or rental glamping setups here.
Standard check-in runs from 12:00 to 18:00, but you can actually show up as early as 10:00 for free without calling ahead. Check-out is by noon the following day. If you only want to day camp, you can do that for the same rate as an overnight stay, provided you head out by 22:00. You don’t need to prepay online either; you just settle up on-site at check-in with cash or a card.
As for the amenities, things are kept fairly simple. There are only two toilet blocks on the entire property, and you won’t find showers on-site, so plan on taking a 15-minute drive to a local onsen if you want to rinse off. Wifi is available, though the signal only reaches the tsudoi and mujina areas, which is worth keeping in mind if staying connected matters to you.
Getting to Negura Campground
Driving is really the only realistic way in. Take the Izu-Judan Expressway to the Oba-Kannami interchange, then follow local roads toward Atami for about 9 kilometers until you see signs for the site. Car navigation systems don’t always pull up the location correctly, so use Google Maps instead of trusting your car’s built-in nav.
The entrance itself is narrow, though it’s wide enough for vehicles up to a 4 ton truck to get through, so don’t panic if you’re driving something bigger than a compact car.
If you don’t have a car, you can take the JR Tokaido line to Kannami Station and grab a taxi from there, which runs about 15 minutes and roughly 2,500 yen. There’s no bus service out here, so that taxi is genuinely your only non-driving option.
Negura Campground Site and Accommodation Options
This is where Negura is simpler than a lot of other campgrounds you’ll come across in Japan. There’s no glamping tent, no cabin, no rental yurt, it’s tent and car camping only, and there’s no limit on how many tents you can pitch per booking. If you’re used to comparing campgrounds where accommodation type is a whole decision tree, you can skip that step here.
What you do choose is which of the four site areas you book into:
- Tsudoi and Mujina are the open grassland areas with the best views, sunset, city lights, and Fuji in the distance. Each has six fire pits for direct ground fires, and both have wifi coverage.
- Komichi is set back in the trees, and ground fires are allowed anywhere across the whole site, not just at set pits. You lose the Fuji view here, but you still get the sunset and the night lights.
- Kokage is the other wooded area, more sheltered, so better if you’ve got younger kids who do better with some natural boundary around them instead of open hillside.
Each area has its own entry cap, so even if you show up later in the check-in window, you’re not going to arrive and find your whole section packed shoulder to shoulder.
Negura Campground Pricing and Booking Timeline
Pricing is based on the number of people and the number of vehicles you’re bringing, not a flat per-site rate, and there’s no limit on tents, so you don’t need to pay per tent. A few things worth knowing before you book:
- Weekends and the day before a holiday get bumped to holiday pricing.
- New Year’s, Golden Week, and Obon carry a 30% surcharge on top of that.
- Day camping is allowed at the same rate as an overnight stay, but you have to check out by 22:00.
- You pay on site at check-in, not when you book. Both cash and cashless payment are accepted.
The site has a price simulator on their booking page where you plug in your site choice, number of adults, kids, and vehicles, and it calculates your total, which is worth using before you commit to a headcount.
Bookings open exactly two months in advance, at noon on the matching date. For example, if you want a stay starting April 10, the booking window opens February 10 at noon. Set a calendar reminder if you’re after a popular weekend, because sites here fill up fast once the window opens.
One quirk to know: on the exact day a window opens, you can’t book two consecutive nights in one go, since the second night technically isn’t released yet. You’d book night one, then go back the next day to add night two.
Negura Campground Facilities
Toilets are limited to two locations across the whole property, one at tsudoi and one at mujina. The tsudoi bathroom is a proper flush toilet building with separate men’s and women’s sides. The mujina one is technically a temporary structure but it’s plumbed and flushes normally, so it’s more comfortable than the word “temporary” makes it sound. Either way, don’t expect a toilet a short walk from every single spot the way you might at a bigger, more built-out site. We didn’t have to wait long even with our group, but during a busier weekend, keep it in mind.
Wash areas are also at tsudoi and mujina, both with hot water, multiple sinks, and a separate large basin for washing bigger gear like tents. There are no showers on site, so if you want to rinse off properly, the nearest onsen is about 15 minutes away by car.
Wifi only reaches the tsudoi and mujina areas, and it’s solid enough to stream video even when the site is busy. If you’re picking a spot in komichi or kokage for the shade and privacy, know that you’re trading away signal too.
Phone reception varies a lot by carrier. Softbank works great since there’s a base station nearby, au is reliable across the whole site, docomo gets patchy depending on where you are, and Rakuten Mobile barely connects at all. If you’re relying on your phone for anything important, this is worth planning around ahead of time.
Negura Campground View: Good, But Not the Reason to Come
Here’s where I’ll push back a little on the hype. Yes, you can see Mt. Fuji from Negura. But it’s more of a small peek in the distance than the kind of looming, fills-your-whole-photo view you get at somewhere like Fumotoppara. If Fuji is the actual reason for your trip, an unobstructed close-up view is what you’re chasing, go there instead. Negura will leave you a little underwhelmed if that’s your expectation going in.
What Negura does really well is the view over the towns below. Once the sun starts going down, you’re looking out over Numazu and Mishima with the lights slowly turning on beneath you, and it’s genuinely beautiful in a way photos don’t quite capture. My kid was more captivated by watching the lights turn on one by one than by trying to spot Fuji in the distance, honestly, and I think that says something.
One thing I do need to flag clearly for anyone with kids: some of the sites sit right along the edge, close to where cars actually drive in and park. Watch your kids closely near that edge. A fall there isn’t a minor scrape, it’s a real drop, and it’s the one thing I was actively paying attention to the entire trip.
Should You Bring Your Family to Negura Campground?
If your kids are old enough to listen when you tell them to stay back from an edge, and you’re not expecting a Fuji photo shoot, I’d genuinely recommend this place. The combination of space for kids to run, clean if limited facilities, direct fires, and that sunset view over the city below makes for a really peaceful weekend. Go on a quieter weekend if you can swing it. Less crowd meant more room for our kids to play, and honestly, more room for the adults to actually relax around the fire too.
Negura Campground FAQs
Can you bring pets?
Yes, at every site except tsudoi, which doesn’t allow pets.
Can you book the whole campground privately for a group event?
No, general bookings can’t reserve the site exclusively. Full buyouts are only available for commercial events, so plan your group trip around the normal booking system.
Is there a limit on tents or tarps?
No, you can put up as many as you want within your site.
Do you need to book far in advance?
Yes, ideally right when the window opens. Reservations release exactly two months ahead of your stay date, and popular weekend spots go quickly.
