Japan has become one of the most popular touristic destinations in the world, tiktakers!
And it makes sense, since it's a country filled with incredible places to visit!
One of them, considered by many as the main symbol of Japan, is Mount Fuji.
Mount Fuji is located on the island of Honshu, at about 100 kilometers west from Tokyo.
Its surrounding environment is very wild and natural,
and nearby you can find the lakes Kawaguchi, Yamanaka, Motosu, Shoji and Sai. The mountain
is located within the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National park, the most visited park in the country.
Mount Fuji is the tallest in all of Japan, 3.776 meters tall! And did you know that this
mountain is also an active volcano? This means that it shows signs of continuous activity,
and has erupted at one point during the last 10.000 years. In this case, Mount Fuji's most
recent eruption was named the Great Hōei Eruption – it occurred during the Edo Period in 1707,
and they say it lasted for about two weeks! Pretty scary, right tiktakers?
Mount Fuji is one of the three sacred mountains of Japan,
which is why it's so common to find it in Japanese paintings and literature throughout the centuries.
It has served as a source of inspiration for hundreds
of artists who have represented its snowy silhouette in numerous works,
the most significant of these being "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji", a series of landscape prints
made by the painter Hokusai during the Edo Period, a time that really marked the history of Tokyo.
The mountainside of this volcano is filled with elements very representative of Japanese culture,
such as Buddhist sanctuaries. In fact, samurais would carry out their training at the foot of the
mountain, believing that doing so would channel the strength the mountain transmitted to them.
It was precisely those samurais who also had a lot to do with the name of this mountain:
Its name comes from the Chinese characters "fu-ji". "Fu" means "wealth",
while "ji" is the Chinese reading of "samurai". Finally, the kanji for "san", or "mountain",
was added to end up forming the word "Fuji-san". In some Spanish-speaking countries,
some people also refer to Mount Fuji as "Fujiyama", but that term is incorrect.
As you can see tiktakers, this more than 100.000-year-old place is filled with beauty
and spirituality! And because of this, in 2013 it was declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco.
So, if you are not afraid of heights, and you're thinking about visiting Japan,
you can usually climb Mount Fuji during July and August.
It is calculated that each year about 300.000 people climb to the summit, and many Japanese
people promise to themselves to climb Mount Fuji at least once in their lives. Would you
bring yourself to climb it as well? If you did, please share your experience in the comments!