Views of Mount Fuji

Oshino - New Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji
Tomikichiro Tokuriki 1902-1999

Mount Fuji is the uncontested landmark number one of Japan. Generations of ukiyo-e artists immortalized the cone-shaped mountain in thousands of print designs.

The Dormant Volcano

Mt. Fuji is located on the Southern Honshu Island. On a clear beautiful day one can view Fujisan - as it is respectfully called - from Tokyo and from Yokohama. With its 12,388 feet (3,776 meters), it is the highest peak in Japan.

Its crater has 2,000 feet (600 meters) in diameter. Mt. Fuji consists of three volcanoes - Komitake Volcano, Ko-Fuji and Shin Fuji, the youngest one. The last eruption took place from December 1707 until January 1708, when the ashes were thrown as far as Tokyo. Geologists see Fujisan as a dormant volcanoe.

The Sacred Mountain and the Replicas

Thirty-six Views of Mt.Fuji
Hiroshige Ando 1797-1858

The Japanese see Mount Fuji as a sacred mountain. Therefore it was and still is a destination for pilgrims. Under the old Shinto religion it was a kind of a once in your life religious obligation to ascend the sacred mountain - in white clothes. When Buddhism came to Japan, Fuji simply converted from a Shinto to a sacred Buddhist mountain - otherwise status unchanged. The mountain is regarded as some kind of incarnation of a deity.

Until the nineteenth century women were not allowed to climb Mt. Fuji. For them and for those who were not healthy and strong enough to climb the real thing, the Japanese in their great wisdom built miniature Fuji mountains - small hills shaped after the real McCoy.

Mt. Fuji in Ukiyo-e

Sunrise at Mt. Fuji
Osamu Sugiyama born 1946

Ukiyo-e had and still has certain favorite themes from Kabuki play, history and legends of Japan and from nature. Among the landscape prints, images of Fuji are the most revered and frequent ones. There are hardly any Japanese printmakers who did not make a print design of Mount Fuji. One would expect the subject to be worn out after more than two centuries of Mt. Fuji print designs. But it is not and remains a fascinating icon even for contemporary artists like Paul Binnie who created a woodblock print of Aka (red) Fuji in late 2002.

Probably the most famous series of prints showing the sacred mountain, are the 36 Views of Mount Fuji by Hokusai (1760-1849). The title is misleading because the series comprises 46 prints.

Few landscape prints with the famous mountain were created during the Meiji period. The public was more fascinated by woodblock prints with images of the industrialization of Japan and of the Sino- and Russo-Japanese war. The twentieth century saw a renaissance in Mt. Fuji prints. The Shin Hanga art movement had a number of famous artists who tried the subject like Kawase Hasui or Hiroshi Yoshida. Also many lesser known artists like Gihachiro Okuyama made wonderful images of the majestic mountain.

Print Series

Here is a small - and very incomplete - list of print series about the famous little mountain.

36 Views of Mount Fuji - by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849)
36 Views of Mount Fuji - by Ando Hiroshige (1797-1858)
3 Views of Mount Fuji - by Ito Shinsui (1888-1972)
36 Views of Mount Fuji (only 8 were finished) - by Kishio Koizumi (1893-1945)

Mount Fuji Today

Morning Glow at Mt. Fuji
Ryusei Okamoto born 1949

"Your are wise to climb Fuji once and a fool to climb it twice." an old Japanese saying goes.

And there is second, somewhat different version:

"He who climbs Fuji once is a fool. He who climbs Fuji twice is twice a fool."

According to statistics, the mountain is climbed by 200,000 to 400,000 people per year. Thirty percent of them are foreigners. Statistically this makes only 500 to 1000 climbers per day. Practically, the official mountaineering activity is only from mid-July to the end of August. Hardly anyone climbs it during the off-season because of the harsh weather. So better expect a long line of climbers - especially on weekends and on the major trails. There are 4 trails leading to the summit. Most climbers go up to the 5th stage by bus or car. From there they climb on the Kawaguchiko trail to the summit in about 5 hours and descend on the Subashiri trail in about 3 hours.

People climb for the sunrise and the great view from the summit - and to have been on the top of Mount Fuji once in their life.

The area around the dormant volcano was declared a National Park in 1936 - the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. Nevertheless, the foothills of the mountains, where the Soga brothers once revenged their father's death, are now a resort area with winter skiing and other sport activities.

Mt. Fuji Live

Mt. Fuji in Evening Glow
Ryusei Okamoto born 1949

In case you should not have an opportunity to see Mount Fuji in real, you can take a virtual look at it. Several web cams around Fuji are directed towards the majestic mountain 24 hours per day. Take a look at Mt.Fuji Live.

Literature sources used for this article:

Chris Uhlenbeck & Merel Molenaar, "Mount Fuji - Sacred mountain of Japan", Leiden, 2000, Hotei Publishing, ISBN 90-74822-32-0

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