Mount Fuji

Rising to 12,388 feet (3,776 metres), Mount Fuji is the tallest mountain in Japan and is known for its graceful conical form. It is the country’s sacred symbol, and temples and shrines are located around and on the volcano. Climbing the mountain has long been a religious practice, and Fuji is one of Japan’s most popular tourist attractions.

The mountain is located in Yamanashi and Shizuoka ken (prefectures) of central Honshu, Japan, about 60 miles (100 km) west of the Tokyo-Yokohama metropolitan area. It is the major feature of Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, and it is at the centre of a UNESCO World Heritage site designated in 2013.

While tradition holds that the volcano was created by an earthquake, the truth is more complex. Fuji seems to have formed during the past 2.6 million years. The present-day mountain is a composite of three successive volcanoes: at the bottom is Komitake, which was surmounted by Ko Fuji (“Old Fuji”) and, finally, by the most recent, Shin Fuji (“New Fuji”). Over the millennia the lava and other ejecta from Ko Fuji covered most of Komitake.

The volcano is considered active and has erupted more than 15 times since 781. However, Mount Fuji has been dormant since an eruption in 1707, and its last signs of volcanic activity occurred in the 1960s. Given concerns about the extensive damage that would be caused by an eruption, Fuji is monitored 24 hours a day.