Mt. Fuji: An object of worship and a cultural icon for Japanese

Mt. Fuji is by far the most famous and important mountain for Japanese. 

Mt. Fuji (Fujisan, 富士山) which locates in Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures is the highest mountain (3,776m) in Japan. Its' perfectly symmetrical cone has been an object of worship and a cultural icon for centuries.

Mt. Fuji was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2013: "Fujisan, sacred place and source of artistic inspiration". Animism, the belief that all natural things have sprits, has been very common from ancient times to the present among Japanese people.  Of course, Mt. Fuji is no exception. There are about 1,300 Sengen shrines (浅間大社) worshiping Mt. Fuji around the country. The head shrine of these shrines, Fujisan Hongū Sengen Taisha, is located in Mt. Fuji.

Mt. Fuji has also been used as a cultural symbol in Japan. Mt Fuji was recited again and again in the oldest Japanese poetry collection (Manyōsyū, 万葉集) in 8th century. In the 1830s, Mt. Fuji was also described in woodblock prints (Ukiyo-e, 浮世絵) such as "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji by Hokusai and Hiroshige". In the 1860s, Ukiyo-e was introduced to European artist as a part of Japonism and Impressionist painters including Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet were influenced by the use of colors and composition in Ukiyo-e.

It takes about 2 hours from Tokyo to Mt. Fuji by train or direct bus. If you don't have enough time to visit, you can see Mt. Fuji from Tokyo on a sunny day.