Mount Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan, rising to 12,388 feet.
Visible from Tokyo on a clear day, the beautiful cone-shaped mountain
is located west of the city, surrounded by lakes in a national park.
Mount Fuji is named for the Buddhist fire goddess Fuchi
and is sacred to the Shinto goddess Sengen-Sama,
whose shrine is found at the summit.
It is the holiest of Japan's "Three Holy Mountains."
Every summer, thousands of pilgrims and tourists climb to the summit,
many of them hiking throughout the night to witness the sunrise
from the summit.
History
Mount Fuji is a volcano, which geologists estimate was created
600,000 years ago during the Pleistocene era. It last erupted in 1707
and is now dormant.
According to Buddhist tradition, Fuji rose from the earth in 286 BC
after an earthquake that also created Lake Biwa (the largest lake in Japan).
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Fuji-san has been regarded as sacred mountain for virtually as long
as humans have lived nearby.
It was originally a sacred mountain of the Ainu, the aboriginal inhabitants of Japan.
For Shintoists (modern followers of the native religion),
Mt. Fuji is sacred to the goddess Sengen-Sama and an embodiment
of the very spirit of nature.