Mount Fuji

Japan's sacred perfect cone

Fuji is Japan's highest mountain and a volcano shaped like an almost perfect cone! Its snowy peak can be seen from Tokyo. Japanese people consider it sacred, and every summer 300,000 people climb to the top — walking at night to see the sunrise. Fuji last erupted in 1707 and could erupt again.

Mount Fuji (3,776 m) is Japan's highest peak, an active stratovolcano 100 km west of Tokyo. It formed layer by layer over 100,000 years at the meeting point of three tectonic plates; the present cone is 10,000 years old. The last eruption, in 1707 (Hōei), dropped 4 cm of ash on Tokyo (Edo). It is sacred in Shinto: there is a shrine at the summit, and women were banned from climbing until 1868. Hokusai's prints 'Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji' (1830) made it world-famous. The climbing season is July–September on 4 routes; 300,000 climb each year, and since 2024 a fee and a cap have been introduced. A UNESCO site (2013) — listed as cultural, not natural, heritage.

Fun facts

• In 1707 Fuji covered Tokyo in ash — and it's still an active volcano.
• There's a post office at the summit — you can send a postcard from there!
• Hokusai's famous 'Great Wave' painting has Fuji in the background.