Mount Fuji (富士山)

Mount Fuji taken while travelling in the Shinkansen (bullet train)

Mount Fuji (富士山, Fuji-san) is Japan’s highest peak and the most beautiful. It is regards as the mountain of all mountains. It rises 3,776 m above the sea level, making it the 29th tallest volcano in the world with a diameter about 38km north south and 39km east west when measured at the foot of the mountain.



On a clear day, you may see it from Tokyo, 130km to the east. Its majestic profile can be seen more than 300km away from the top of Mount Myoho in Wakayama Prefecture.



Mount Fuji is an almost perfect cone with lakes dammed by lava flows, rivers, ponds marshes fed by fast-flowing springs and a dense, mature forest covering the lava plateau around its foot. The area is also rich in wildlife and natural vegetation.



Mount Fuji is an active volcano and from time to time, it will erupts and throwing out lavas and cinders. Since ancient time, people have regarded it as sacred and some even worship it as a god. These beliefs led more and more people to climb the mountain in medieval times and in the 18th century, shrines were built all over Japan to honor the mountain.



Today, about 300,000 people climb the mountain every year to realize their dream to get to the top of it.




tags : Mount Fuji 富士山 Fuji-san Tokyo