A symbol of power and perfection of form: Mount Fuji in Japanese culture.
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The Japanese consider Fuji a channel between Earth and Heaven, a canon of Beauty, Purity and Harmony, a symbol of Japan. Poets have dedicated poems to this peak and artists have dedicated their paintings to it. Hundreds of legends have survived in folk epic, and thousands of pilgrims, wanting to touch the legend, make the long ascent to its summit. Mount Fuji is not just Japan's highest mountain, it is its living Spirit, "the supreme altar of sunshine.
Mount Fuji (Fujiyama in Japanese) is a typical stratovolcano, that is, a cone-shaped volcano formed from layers of solidified lava and volcanic ash. Such volcanoes are characterized by periodic explosive eruptions, and Fuji is no exception. Since 781 it has erupted 12 times, oozing basaltic lava. The most powerful eruptions occurred in 800, 864 and 1707.
The last and probably the most powerful was an earthquake in 1708, when the Japanese capital Edo (now Tokyo) was covered with a 15-cm layer of ash. But in all the images of Fuji there is no eruption and there never was one.
The Japanese consider Fuji sacred. According to legend, the mountain originated one night in 285 BC. Since then, the appearance of cities and villages, rivers and lakes, mountains and valleys has changed, but Fujiyama remains the unrivaled ruler of Japanese nature, a symbol of power and perfection of form and proportion. It is regarded as a place of spiritual power and is revered and worshipped. No matter what social or technological changes may affect Japanese life, they will still admire their one and only Fuji-san, whether in ancient prints or in person.
Climbing Mount Fuji is considered not just a physical climb up a steep slope, but a path to spiritual enlightenment. The tradition of climbing Mount Fuji dates back to the XI century. According to Japanese legend, the Goddess of Mount Fuji-hime or Kono-hana Sakuya-hime ("Princess who makes the trees blossom and nightingales sing sweetly") lives on the mountain.
However, that didn't stop the Japanese from coining the proverb, "He who has never climbed to the top of Fuji is a fool. But he who has climbed Mount Fuji twice is twice a fool.
