Location: Honshu Island Map
Mount Fuji is an active stratovolcano situated on a Honshu Island in Japan. Mount Fuji is classified as an active volcano, but with little risk of eruption. The last time it erupted was in 1707- 08, during the Edo period. Then, a new crater was formed, as well as a second peak (called Hoeizan by the name of the era). This picturesque volcano that rises at a height of 12388 ft (3776 m). Snow covered peak with a perfect cone shaped the mountain drew people and captivated artists' imagination. Mount Fuji is an attractive volcanic cone and is a recurring theme in Japanese art. The most renowned work is the masterpiece 36 views of Mount Fuji by the ukiyo-e painter Katsushika Hokusai. It also appears in Japanese literature and is the subject of many poems.
Mount Fuji is located in the contact zone of the Eurasian Plate, the
Pacific Plate and the Philippine Plate and is one of the stratovolcanoes
(layer volcanoes) of the Pacific Ring of Fire. It is classified as
active with low eruption risk.
Scientists believe that Mount Fuji
was formed in four distinct periods of volcanic activity: The first
stage (Sen-komitake) consists of an andesite core deep within the
mountain. This was followed by Komitake Fuji, a basalt layer believed to
have been formed several hundred thousand years ago. About 100,000 years
ago, "Old Fuji" formed over the surface of Komitake Fuji. Modern, "new"
Fuji is believed to have formed over old Fuji about 10,000 years ago.
The mountain has erupted eighteen times since records began. The
last known eruption occurred in the Edo period on December 16, 1707 and
lasted about two weeks. At that time, a second crater and a second peak
formed halfway up, named after the name of the era Hōei-zan (宝永山). Today
the summit crater is about 200 m deep and about 2.5 km in circumference.
North at the foot of the mountain in Yamanashi Prefecture are the
five Fuji lakes.
The modern Japanese spelling of Mount Fuji is composed of the kanji 富
(fu 'rich'), 士 (ji 'warrior') and 山 (san 'mountain'). It can already be
found on a wooden tablet (mokkan) dated to the year 735, which was found
in the ruins of the former imperial palace Heijō in Nara, as well as in
the Shoku Nihongi published in 797. The oldest known spellings are 不盡
(modern: 不尽 'inexhaustible') in the Nihonshoki published in 720 and 福慈
'happiness and affection' from the Hitachi Fudoki compiled between 713
and 721. In addition to a large number of other spellings, these all
have in common that they are merely phonograms for the old Japanese name
puzi, i. That is, Chinese characters were used whose Chinese
pronunciation corresponded to Japanese (Man'yōgana). They therefore do
not reflect the actual meaning of the name, which may have been long
forgotten even then. The same applies to the spelling 不二, which can also
be found today, and which can be rendered as "not two", i.e. "unique".
The origin of the name is therefore disputed. The most famous
Japanese theory goes back to the story Taketori Monogatari ("The Tale of
the Bamboo Gatherer"). In this oldest fairytale-like romantic tale from
Japan, the emperor has the potion of immortality destroyed by a large
entourage of his warriors on the highest mountain in the country. On the
one hand, this should result in the spelling mentioned as “rich in
warriors”, but on the other hand it should also remind of the word for
“immortality” (不死, fushi).
Another well-known theory comes from
the British missionary John Batchelor, who researched the culture of the
Ainu; according to his theory, fuji comes from the Ainu term huci for
the goddess of fire Ape-huci-kamuy. However, the linguist Kindaichi
Kyōsuke rejected this for linguistic-historical reasons, since Japanese
at the time did not have an initial h or f. In addition, huci means 'old
woman', while the Ainu term for the fire alluded to in the derivation is
ape. An alternative Ainu origin attributed by Batchelor to the educator
Nagata Hōsei (1844–1911) is pus/push meaning 'to break out, to break
out, (sparks) to fly'.
The toponomast Kanji Kagami sees a
Japanese origin as the Japanese name of the wisteria fuji as
"designation of a mountain foot that hangs down from the sky like a
wisteria [...]". On the other hand, the fact that both terms were
historically pronounced differently: puzi and pudi. In addition, there
are dozens of other derivations.
"Fujisan" or "Fujiyama"?
The
term Fujiyama (also Fudschi or Fudschijama in German-speaking countries,
according to Duden, which is often used outside of Japan) is probably
based on a misreading of the character "山" for mountain. The Japanese
kun reading of this character is yama, but the Sino-Japanese on reading
san is used here as a compound word consisting of several characters,
not to be confused with the suffix -san with the same sound in Japanese
salutations. The Japanese pronunciation of the mountain's name today is
therefore Fuji-san, although there are many other Japanese toponyms
where the character "山 - mountain" is read as yama. However, in
classical Japanese literature, the term Fuji no yama, i.e. 'Mountain of
Fuji' "ふじの山" is used to describe Mount Fuji.
In addition to the
linguistic one has to place the historical approach, which provides the
insight that the western name Fujiyama quite obviously goes back to
Engelbert Kaempfer, whose description of Japan has had a lasting effect
on the European image of Japan. Peter K. Kapitza states a “European
norm, so to speak”, to which the European image of Japan was brought on
the basis of the travel reports that had been received up to that point.
While the Western travelers to Japan before Kaempfer used the term
"Fuji no yama" in different spellings, but always with the particle no
in the middle - Kapitza's volume contains six examples from the 17th
century, Kaempfer used for the first time e.g. also the spellings "Fusi
jamma" or "Fusijamma". Kaempfer also used the cliché of “the most
beautiful mountain in the world Fusi or Fusi no jamma”. Elsewhere,
Kaempfer gave the name of the volcano as "Fudsi", "Fusji" or
"Fusijamma".
In the Edo period, the common name for volcano was
Fuji, which was expanded in many ways to Fuji no yama (ふじのやま, "Mountain
of Fuji"), Fuji no mine (ふじの嶺, "Peak of Mount Fuji"), Fuji no takane
(ふじの高嶺, "top of Mount Fuji") and so on. Since the word yama for
"mountain" was common and certainly familiar to western travelers to
Japan, the term Fuji no yama seemed the clearest and most understandable
to them and was reproduced alongside the term Fuji in the reports from
Japan. Since Kaempfer wavered between the terms Fuji no yama and
Fujiyama and sometimes omitted the particles and sometimes used them, it
is reasonable to assume that the spelling Fujiyama goes back to an error
on Kaempfer's part. However, it cannot be ruled out that the term
Fujiyama also existed in addition to the term Fuji no yama - after all,
there is the family name Fujiyama (富士山), which is spelled exactly like
the mountain. In addition, the term Fujiyama - 후시야마又云후시산 'Fujiyama, also
called Fujisan' - can also be found in the Korean-Japanese dictionary
Wae-eo yuhae (倭語類解) from the 1780s.
Mistranslations of the name
as "Mr. Fuji" stem from confusing the homonymous syllables -san (山,
mountain) and -san (さん, neutral Japanese form of address for men and
women).
The most appropriate translation of the name in German
might be Fuji. However, some Japanologists are of the opinion that
Fujisan can also be used as a proper name, citing, for example, Mont
Blanc and Mount Everest, since the foreign word for “mountain” also
remains untranslated for them. The syllable -san would thus be
understood as part of the name.
The entirety of the religious worship of Mount Fuji is referred to as
Fuji shinekō (富士信仰, Fuji belief) or Sengen shinekō (浅間信仰).
Mount
Fuji has been considered sacred in Shinto for centuries. In order to
pacify his outbreaks, the imperial court - according to tradition by
Emperor Suinin in the year 27 BC. - the deity Asama no ōkami (浅間大神, also
Sengen ōkami, equated with the goddess Konohana-no-sakuya-no-hime)
enshrined and worshiped. In 806, Emperor Heizei ordered the Shinto
shrine Fujisan Hongū Sengen Taisha to be built at the foot of the
mountain. This is now the headquarters of over 1,300 Sengen shrines
(also called Asama shrines) built at the base and slopes of Mount Fuji
to worship it. The shrine site of Okumiya (奥宮), a branch of Mount Fuji
Hongū Sengen Taisha, covers the entire mountain peak from the 8th
station. Mount Fuji is also important in Japanese Buddhism, especially
in its mountain cult form of the Shugendō, which sees climbing the
mountain as an expression of their faith. In the 12th century, the
Buddhist priest Matsudai Schonin built a temple to Sengen Dainichi (the
Buddhist deity of the mountain) on the crater rim. The mountain is also
worshiped by a variety of sects, the most prominent being the
Shugendō-influenced Fuji-kō (富士講), founded in the 16th century.
During the Muromachi period (14th-16th centuries), climbing Mount Fuji
became popular and Buddhist mandalas arose to promote pilgrimages to
Mount Fuji. In addition to mountain huts, the Fuji-kō sect also built
so-called Fujizuka (“Fuji hills”) in and around the capital Edo in order
to enable everyone to symbolically climb the mountain. At the height of
this development, there were about 200 Fuji hills. In addition,
Fujimizaka (富士見坂, "Fuji show hill") were also created by Daimyō, for
example, in order to be able to view Mount Fuji better from these
elevated vantage points. On a clear day, the mountain can still be seen
from 80-100 km away (also from Yokohama and Tokyo).
Chureito
Pagoda
Arakurayama Sengen Park
Nearby is the forested area of
Aokigahara, which has become known for a large number of suicides
committed there. On February 24, 1926, Mount Fuji Forest and Aokigahara
Forest (富士山原始林及び青木ヶ原樹海, Fuji-san genshirin oyobi Aokigahara jukai) were
declared a natural monument.
There are no written records of when and by whom the mountain was
first climbed. The first ascent is attributed to En-no-Schokaku around
the year 700. There is a detailed description of the crater from the 9th
century. The first ascent by a foreigner was not made until 1860 by
Rutherford Alcock. Today, Mount Fuji is one of the most popular tourist
destinations in Japan. Thanks to its shape, the mountain is relatively
easy to climb compared to other three-thousanders. In summer, when the
ascent on three different routes is open to the public, around 3,000
tourists come to the summit every day. A particularly beautiful view
from the summit is seen as the sun rises over the Pacific. Many
mountaineers take a break in one of the huts between 3000 and 3400 m and
set out again at around 2 a.m. The highest station that can be reached
by regular motor traffic is Gogōme (五合目, "5th station") at about 2300 m.
The road there is only open to buses at Obon time. In addition, a
railway line is planned to improve access to the station. There are a
total of four hiking routes to the top of Mount Fuji today. They differ
in starting altitude, climb, length, incline and duration. All routes
start at the respective fifth station, which is at different heights. An
overview of all routes:
Yoshida Route (吉田ルート), the most popular,
starts at 2300 m
Fujinomiya Route (富士宮ルート), the shortest but
steepest, starts at 2400 m
Subashiri Route (須走ルート), the sandiest,
starts at 2000m
Gotemba Route (御殿場ルート), the longest and lowest starts
at 1450 m