Mount Fuji
From Conservapedia
This entry makes use of Japanese characters and will require Japanese language support to be installed on your computer in order to avoid the characters being replaced by question marks, or blanked out.
Mount Fuji (富士山 Fuji-san) is Japan's highest mountain and one of the most recognisable images of the island nation. A religious symbol since ancient times, it has been the subject of countless paintings and poems. Mount Fuji, together with Mount Tateyama (立山 Tateyama), and Mount Haku (白山 Haku-san), are referred to as the Nihon Sanmeizan (日本三霊山 "Japan's three most sacred mountains"). Mountain worship is referred to as Sangaku Shinkou (山岳信仰 "mountain faith") and although today associated with the Buddhist religion, early records indicate that such worship existed long before the introduction of Buddhism to Japan in the 6th century.[1]
Mount Fuji is dormant volcano, having last erupted on 16 December 1707, characterised by its near-perfect cone. It stands 3775.63 meters (12,385 feet) high, and is located on the border of the Yamanashi and Shizuoka Prefectures, near the southern coast of the main Honshu island (Long.138°45'1"E, Lat.35°21'5"N). On clear days, especially during the colder seasons, and at early morning or evening, it is easily visible from Tokyo and Yokohama.
A popular tourist destination, Mount Fuji is open to climbers during July and August, and more than 200,000 visitors climb to the summit annually. However, due to its religious connotations, women were forbidden from climbing the mountain until the Meiji era.
An additional attraction for tourists is the the "Fuji Five Lake" region (富士五湖 Fujigoko), which surrounds the foot of the mountain. The five lakes (ko) are Lake Kawaguchi, Lake Yamanaka, Lake Sai, Lake Motosu and Lake Shoji, and all fall within the Hakone National Park.
Also at the foot of the mountain lies the Aokigahara (青木ヶ原) forest, also also known as the Sea of Trees (樹海). This densely wooded area has the unfortunate record of being the world’s second most popular suicide spot, after San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. In an attempt to curb an increase in suicides, local authorities have erected signboards carrying messages to convince potential suicides to change their minds.[2] Many people attribute the popularity of Aokigahara as a suicide spot to the novel Kuroi Jukai (Black Forest), which concludes with the main protagonists committing suicide in the forest.
External Links
- Official Mount Fuji site - with apologies for the quaint English
