Everything about Mount Fuji totally explained
}} is the highest
mountain in
Japan at . A
dormant volcano that last erupted in 1707-08, it straddles the boundary of
Shizuoka and
Yamanashi prefectures just west of
Tokyo, from which it can be seen on a clear day. It is located near the Pacific coast of central
Honshū. Three small cities surround it:
Gotemba (east),
Fujiyoshida (north) and
Fujinomiya (southwest).
Mount Fuji's exceptionally symmetrical cone is a well-known symbol of Japan and it's frequently depicted in art and photographs, as well as visited by sightseers and climbers.
Geography
Mt. Fuji stands at high and is surrounded by five lakes:
Lake Kawaguchi,
Lake Yamanaka,
Lake Sai,
Lake Motosu and
Lake Shoji. They, and nearby
Lake Ashi, provide excellent views of the mountain. It is part of the
Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. It is also a
stratovolcano.
The climate is very cold due to the altitude and the cone is covered by snow for several months of the year. The lowest recorded temperature is -35.5C while on
August 16 2007 the highest temperature was recorded at 18.2 C.
It can be seen from
Yokohama,
Tokyo, and sometimes as far as
Chiba when the sky is clear.
Geology
Scientists have identified four distinct phases of volcanic activity in the formation of Mt. Fuji. The first phase, called
Sen-komitake, is composed of an
andesite core recently discovered deep within the mountain.
Sen-komitake was followed by the "
Komitake Fuji," a
basalt layer believed to be formed several hundred thousand years ago. Approximately 100,000 years ago, "Old Fuji" was formed over the top of
Komitake Fuji. The modern, "New Fuji" is believed to have formed over the top of Old Fuji around 10,000 years ago.
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The
volcano is currently classified as active with a low risk of eruption. The
last recorded eruption started on
December 16 1707 and ended about
January 1 1708 during the
Edo period. This is sometimes called "the
great Hōei eruption." Fuji-san spewed cinders and ash which fell like rain in
Izu,
Kai,
Sagami, and
Musashi. Since then, Fuji hasn't erupted and nor were there any signs of an eruption.
At this time, a new
crater, along with a second peak, named
Hōei-zan after the
era name, formed halfway down its side.
Mount Fuji is located at the point where the
Eurasian Plate (or the
Amurian Plate), the
Okhotsk Plate, and the
Philippine Plate meet. Those plates form the western part of Japan, the eastern part of Japan, and the
Izu Peninsula respectively.
Name
Variations
Fuji-san is sometimes referred to as "Fujiyama" in some Western texts, but this
reading isn't correct in standard Japanese. The often-found or -heard "Mount Fujisan" is redundant since the
-san suffix means mountain.
In
Nihon-shiki and
Kunrei-shiki romanization, the name is transliterated as
Huzi. At the Japanese pavilion at the World's Fair of
San Francisco in 1939, a gigantic photograph was labeled Mt. Huzi. Nevertheless, the spelling
Fuji of the
Hepburn romanization is much more common worldwide today.
Other Japanese names for Mt. Fuji, which have become obsolete or poetic, include Fuji-no-Yama (ふじの山,
the Mountain of Fuji), Fuji-no-Takane (ふじの高嶺,
the High Peak of Fuji), Fuyō-hō (芙蓉峰,
the Lotus Peak), and Fugaku (富岳 or 富嶽, the first character of 富士,
Fuji, and 岳,
mountain).
Etymology
The current
kanji for Mount Fuji, 富 and 士, mean
wealth or
abundant and
a man with a certain status respectively, but these characters are probably
ateji; the
characters were likely selected because their pronunciations match the syllables of the name, and don't carry a particular meaning.
The origin of the name
Fuji is unclear. An early
folk etymology claims that
Fuji came from 不二 (
not +
two), meaning
without equal or
nonpareil. Another claims that it came from 不尽 (
not +
exhaust), meaning
neverending.
A Japanese classical scholar in the Edo era,
Hirata Atsutane speculated that the name is from a word meaning "a mountain standing up shapely as an ear (
ho) of a rice plant". A British missionary John Batchelor (1854-1944) argued that the name is from the
Ainu word for 'fire' (
fuchi) of the fire deity (
Kamui Fuchi), which was denied by a Japanese linguist
Kyōsuke Kindaichi (1882-1971) on the grounds of phonetic development (
sound change). It is also pointed out that
huchi means an 'old woman' and
ape is the word for 'fire',
ape huchi kamuy being the fire deity. Research on the distribution of place names that include
fuji as a part also suggest the origin of the word
fuji is in the
Yamato language rather than Ainu. A Japanese toponymist Kanji Kagami argued that the name has the same root as '
wisteria' (
fuji) and 'rainbow' (
niji, but with an alternative word
fuji), and came from its "long well-shaped slope".
A text of
the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter says that the name came from and also from the image of
† ascending the slopes of the mountain.
† Although the word 士 can mean a, or a, its original meaning is a man with a certain status.
History
It is thought that the first ascent was in 663 by an anonymous monk. The summit has been thought of as sacred since ancient times and was forbidden to women until the
Meiji Era.
The first ascent by a foreigner was by Sir
Rutherford Alcock in 1860.
Today, it's a popular tourist destination and common destination for mountain-climbing.
Mount Fuji is an attractive
volcanic cone and a frequent subject of
Japanese art. Amongst the most renowned works are
Hokusai's
36 Views of Mount Fuji and his
One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji. The mountain is also mentioned in Japanese literature throughout the ages and the subject of many poems.
Mt. Fuji also houses a warrior tradition: ancient samurai used the base of the mountain as a remote training area, near the present day town of Gotemba. The
shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo held
yabusame in the area in the early
Kamakura period. As of 2006, the
Japan Self-Defense Forces and the
United States Marine Corps operate military bases near Mount Fuji.
Climbing Mount Fuji
The most popular period for people to hike up Mt. Fuji is from
1 July to
27 August, while huts and other facilities are operating. Buses to the fifth station start running on
1 July.
There are four major routes from the fifth station to the summit with an additional four routes from the foot of the mountain. The major routes from the fifth station are (clockwise) the Kawaguchiko, Subashiri,
Gotemba, and
Fujinomiya routes. The routes from the foot of the mountain are the Shojiko, Yoshida, Suyama, and Murayama routes. The stations on different routes are at different sea levels. The highest fifth station is located at Fujinomiya, followed by Kawaguchi, Subashiri, and Gotemba.
Even though it's only the second highest fifth station, the Kawaguchiko route is the most popular route because of its large parking area and many and large mountain huts where a climber can rest or stay. During the summer season, most Mount Fuji climbing tour buses arrive there. The next popular is the Fujinomiya route which has the highest fifth station, followed by Subashiri and Gotemba.
Even though most climbers don't climb the Subashiri and Gotemba routes, many descend these because of their ash-covered paths. From the seventh station to near the fifth station, one could literally run down these ash-covered paths in approximately 30 minutes.
Besides these routes, there are tractor routes along the climbing routes. These tractor routes are used to bring food and other materials to huts on the mountain. Because the tractors usually take up most of the width of these path and they tend to push large rocks from the side of the path, the tractor paths are off-limits to the climbers on sections that are not merged with the climbing or descending paths. Nevertheless, one sometimes see some people riding a mountain bike down the tractor route Mt. Fuji from the summit. This is particularly risky, as it becomes difficult to control speed and may roll some rocks along the side of the path which may hit some people.
The four routes from the foot of the mountain offer historical sites. The Murayama is the oldest Mount Fuji route and the Yoshida route still has many old shrines, teahouses, and huts along its path. These routes are gaining popularity recently and are being restored, but don't expect to meet many people climbing from the foot of the mountain. Also,
bears have been sighted along the Yoshida route.
An estimated 200,000 people climb Mount Fuji every year, 30% of whom are foreigners. The ascent from the new fifth station can take anywhere between three and eight hours while the descent can take from two to five hours. The hike from the foot of the mountain is divided into 10 stations, and there are paved roads up to the fifth station, which is about 2,300 meters above sea level.
Huts at and above the fifth stations are usually manned during the climbing season, but huts below fifth stations are not usually manned for climbers. The number of open huts on routes are proportional to the number of climbers - Kawaguchiko has the most while Gotemba has the least. The huts along the Gotemba route also tends to start later and closes earlier than those at the Kawaguchiko route. Also, because Mount Fuji is designated as a national park, it's illegal to tent above the fifth station.
There are eight peaks around the crater at the summit. The highest point in Japan is where there used to be the
Mount Fuji Radar System. Climbers are able to visit these peaks.
Paragliding at Mount Fuji
Paragliders take off in the vicinity of the fifth station Gotemba parking lot, between Subashiri and Hōei-zan peak on the south side from the Mountain, in addition to several other locations depending on wind direction. Several paragliding schools use the wide sandy/grassy slope between Gotenba and Subashiri parking lots as a training hill.
Aokigahara
The
forest at the base of the mountain is named
Aokigahara. Folk tales and legends tell of
demons,
ghosts, and
goblins haunting the forest, and in the 19th century, Aokigahara was one of many places poor families abandoned the very young and the very old. Aokigahara is the world’s second most popular suicide location after San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. Since the 1950s, more than 500 people have lost their lives in the forest, mostly suicides. Approximately 30 suicides have been counted yearly, with a high of nearly 80 bodies in 2002. The recent increase in suicides prompted local officials to erect signs that attempt to convince potential suicides to re-think their desperate plans, and sometimes these messages have proven effective. The numbers of suicides in the past creates an allure that has persisted across the span of decades.
Due to the dense forest and rugged inaccessibility, the forest has also attracted thrill seekers. Many of these hikers marked their travelled routes by leaving coloured plastic tapes behind, causing concerns from prefectural officials with regard to the forest's ecosystem.
Transportation
Airports
The closest major airports are
Tokyo International Airport (Haneda Airport) in Tokyo and
Narita International Airport in Chiba.
Mt. Fuji Shizuoka Airport is currently under construction in Shizuoka and expected to be completed and operational by March, 2009. It is about from Mt. Fuji.
On
5 March,
1966,
BOAC Flight 911, a
Boeing 707, broke up in flight and crashed near Mount Fuji Gotemba New fifth station, shortly after departure from Tokyo International Airport. All 113 passengers and 11 crew members were killed in the disaster, which was attributed to extreme
clear air turbulence caused by
lee waves downwind of the mountain. There is now a memorial for the crash a little way down from the Gotemba New fifth station.
Further Information
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