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  • Beautiful Mount Fuji (富士山) Pictures

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    2009年02月14日Japan / Sight-seeing Read comments Leave a comment

    Fuji in AutumnMount Fuji in Autumn (Photo: Kazuhiko Teramoto)

    Fuji-san is Japan’s highest mountain at 3,776 m, and Japan’s most recognized symbol of landscape beauty. One of the Three Holy Mountains (三霊山 — Sanreizan) it is actually an active volcano, supposed to erupt and create more damage than Godzilla did to Tokyo back in the 50′s. Fortunately, it last erupted more than 300 years ago, with no signs of any activity.

    I was fortunate enough to see Fuji-san for about ten seconds on my way back to Osaka from the Shinkansen’s window. Though I come from a country where volcanoes are all too common (including active ones), I was mesmerized by the greatness and beauty of that which left me speechless. Anyway, keep on reading for more beautiful pictures and other curious facts!

    Fuji from the windowFuji-san from the Shinkansen at dusk (photo by my friend Osk)

    Where’s Mount Fuji?

    Mount Fuji is located between the Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures, west of Tokyo, and surrounded by five lakes which provide excellent views all-around.

    Mount Fuji from Yamanashi LakeView from lake Yamanashi (Photo: Kazuhiko Teramoto)

    Fuji-san is supposedly visible from the Tokyo Tower on a really clear day, but I wasn’t lucky enough as to see anything or even recognize where I should be looking at, since all I could see was made out of steel and concrete:

    View from Tokyo Tower富士山ってどこ？@.@ (Photo: Hao)

    You definitely won’t miss Fuji-san if you walk (or run a little) to Yokohama though, and the view is definitely breath-taking:

    Mount Fuji from YokohamaEvening Mount Fuji from Yokohama (Photo: 名古屋 太郎 ?)

    Active Volcano?

    Well, technically yes, but it shows no sign of activity, presenting low risk of eruption. An eruption would hit the biggest economic agglomeration in the world, so let’s hope it doesn’t happen anytime soon. In any case, you should be more concerned about Godzilla, Gamera, and Giant Gundams!

    Gundam SeedGundams: Coming to Destroy your nearest Economic Center in 20XX ™

    The meaning behind Fuji-san

    It’s not known where the name comes from. The kanji 富士 means something like wealthy important man, which carries little to no meaning. Other possible known homophones include 不二 (no two) meaning unrivaled. Another one is 不尽 (no exhaust).

    Mount FujiPhoto: Kazuhiko Teramoto

    The most known one to us Chinese is 不死 (no die), meanning immortal. Chinese legends regarding the immortality medicine (不死藥) and emperors who gave up everything in order to obtain immortality are numerous, which is why this is my favorite ethymology for Mr. Fuji-san (pun-intended ^^; )

    Fuji-san from the SkyFuji-san through a plane window (Photo: Joe Jones)

    Anyway, I hope you enjoyed today’s post. Next week I’ll be writing the Part 2 with more stunning pictures and some other facts about Fuji-san, so don’t forget to subscribe via RSS or via email to receive our daily content! ^^

    Fuji at nightPhoto: Kazuhiko Teramoto

    Some of the pictures were taken from Kazuhiko Teramoto‘s amazing Flickr gallery, don’t forget to check his personal website skyseeker.net too! (Thanks Wikipedia)

    Have you visited Fuji-san?

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