JAPAN GUIDE: Mount Fuji (Climb Mount Fuji this summer)

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If there is one thing that symbolises Japan, it is Mount Fuji. The highest mountain in Japan, Mount Fuji also appears constantly in photos - usually Mount Fuji with a shinkansen, the symbol of the ancient and modern of Japan. The area around the mountain was denoted a national park in 1936, the natural scenery of the area being particularly representative of Japan. Every year, about 30 million sightseers visit the area and roughly 300,000 people climb the mountain. Not so long ago (perhaps just twenty or thirty years back) if asked any Japanese person would say that the place that they would most like to see was Mount Fuji - even if they never made the journey.

Another important part of Japanese culture is the "sentou", or bathhouse. At one time, wherever you went in Japan, the walls of the sentou would be painted with the image of Mount Fuji and pine trees, so that bathers could gaze on the landscape and have the feeling that they were in a sentou watching Mount Fuji - the dream of any Japanese person. In modern times, as most people now have baths at home (not the case many years ago where only the rich could afford such luxury) the number of bathhouses across Japan is gradually reducing as people also become more conscious of privacy. In Tokyo, where land prices are exhorbitant, there are still many apartments without bathrooms, particularly in student accommodation, so it is not unusual for students to still frequent the public baths. It might not be so private, costing about 400 yen a time and taking a bath in the nude with a lot of other people, but if it is an old enough bath, you will at least be able to watch Mount Fuji.

The last eruption of Mount Fuji was in 1707, but since then the mountain has been keeping quiet. Before then, it erupted many times during the history of Japan. Much of the scenery which surrounds Mount Fuji was formed by this volcanic activity.

The Fuji five lakes: Five lakes which are scattered around the base of Mount Fuji. From the west they are Motosuko, Shoujiko, Saiko, Kawaguchiko, Yamanakako. Each has it's own character, but the scenery on the 5000 yen note is that of Shoujiko, which is said to be the most beautiful of all. There are now five lakes, but the topography of the area has changed with volcanic activity, and there have been times with one lake, three lakes and four lakes.

The following site has photos (Japanese text only) which show the evolution of the lakes: http://www.wbs.ne.jp/cmt/fuji/fujikazan/fujigoko.html

Shiraito no taki: Shiraito waterfall has the beautiful appearance of a light shower of spring rain when seen from close by. Quiet green surroundings show the beauty of each season in turn.

The following site has photos (Japanese text only): http://www.wbs.ne.jp/cmt/fuji/fujikazan/suikei.html

Aokiga harajukai: Due to volcanic activity, the area around Mount Fuji has a lot of very strongly magnetic igneous rock. This area of wild forest is called Aokiga Harajukai, or Aokiga Sea of Trees. The forest is so dense that the light of day hardly penetrates, and the ground is full of rises and hollows. The magnetic nature of the ground leads compasses astray, and combined with the convoluted landscape, it is said that no living thing can return from the forest.