「到底是什么妨碍它过来呢？就让它过来吧！有什么问题呢？他们只是在办一场秀，好看看他们如何制造出阴谋论的舆论。」……
世界上最有名的火山之一，可能就是富士山了。它以3776公尺的高度耸立，不仅在日本的地理版图上傲然挺拔，也在全球人的精神世界中占有一席之地。从远古时代起，日本便以「Fujisan」（富士山）称呼它，这座山早已成为日出之国传统、视觉文化与神话的一部分。今天，我们将更深入认识它。
当我们谈到「Fujisan」（富士山）时，指的并非任何一座普通的火山，而是一座于2013年6月22日列入联合国教科文组织（UNESCO）世界文化遗产名录的山岳，并与白山（Monte Haku）和立山（Tate）同属「三霊山」（Sanreizan，三座神圣之山）。
山岳崇拜起源于奈良时代（710-794年），而神圣山岳的地位则源自「修验道」（Shugendo，意为「道、验、行」）的信仰，这是佛教、神道教与道教融合的产物。
对佛教徒而言，富士山的诞生可追溯至绳文时代（约公元前14,500年至公元前300年），该山献给女神「浅间大神」（Sengen-Sama），又称「木花咲耶姫」（Konohanasakuya-hime），她是山津神（Ohoyamatsumi）——山神——与妻子「澪津毘卖命」（Nigini）的女儿。
山顶有一座奉祀女神的神社，每年八月，朝圣者会攀至「富士吉田」（Fujijoshida）镇，观赏「吉田火祭」（Yoshida no Himatsuri），向女神的神社致敬，祈求火山不再喷发。富士山最后一次展现其愤怒，是在1707年12月16日的「贞享大喷火」（Erupción Hoei）。
关于其名字的由来有许多传说，因此Depending on its kanji characters, the meaning could be「不朽」、“many soldiers”、“peerless” or “endless”. No matter the origin, the undeniable fact is that its visual allure is unmatched. For five months each year, its cone is draped in snow, and since the Edo period (1603-1868), when Japan’s capital shifted to Edo—modern Tokyo—it became visible from multiple routes that formed the Gokaido, the network of five major highways. This era witnessed a flourishing of diverse cultural arts inspired by the mountain’s captivating presence.
A sacred mountain was off-limits to women, but by the Meiji period (1868-1912), this changed. As Lindsey DeWitt notes in her work on the visual exclusion of women from sacred mountains in Japan, an imperial edict in May 1872 abolished remaining practices excluding women from shrine and temple lands, permitting them to ascend mountains for worship.
Mount Fuji has achieved global iconic status, inspiring the renowned artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), who depicted it in his celebrated Ukiyo-e woodblock print series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (though the collection actually contains forty works). The mountain also features in various poems, including those by the famous Matsuo Basho (1644-1694):
“Gem-like drops falling in a dream,
a kingdom of magic.
The sun strikes its forehead
atop Mount Fuji.”
A cult originating from the Edo period encourages followers, known as Fuji-ko, to climb the mountain. Today, this practice is integrated into Shintoism, and it is believed that those who ascend the volcano will experience rebirth, be purified, and thus become “capable of finding happiness.”
In contrast, the Aokigahara forest lies in its plains. Legends claim that Oni (ogres/demons), Yurei (ghosts), and Yokai (monsters) reside there. Toward the end of the Edo period, Japan suffered endless famines, forcing extremely poor families to abandon elderly relatives and young children, hoping they would be taken in by the goddess Sengen-Sama—a situation portrayed by Shohei Imamura in Narayama Bushiko (The Ballad of Narayama, 1983).
Mount Fuji serves as Japan’s calling card, a symbol used to identify the country not only internationally but domestically as well. For Japanese people, there are different types of Fuji depending on the season, time of day, or vantage point from which it is viewed. You may have encountered the term “reverse Fuji,” which appears on 1,000-yen banknotes and can be seen reflected in the calm waters of the five lakes region—Kawaguchiko, Motosuko, Saiko, Yamanakako, and Shojiko—or the Aka Fuji (Red Fuji), depicted in woodblock prints.