Mount Fuji

 Fujisan or Fujiyama is an active stratovolcano which is the highest mountain in Japan. It is located in Yamanashi and Shizuoka ken of central Honshu, Japan, about 60 miles (100km) west of the Tokyo-Yokohama metropolitan area. The height of the mountain is 3776 meters (12.390 feet).

ORIGIN:

According to tradition, the volcano was formed in 286 BCE by an earthquake, somewhat the truth is more complex. The age of the mountain is disputed, but it seems to have formed during the past 2.6 million years on a base dating. This volcano has been dormant since its last eruption in 1707 which still generally classified as active by geologists.

GEOLOGY:

Fujisan is a large composite consisting of alternating lava flows and pyroclastics. Its current beautiful cone shape was caused by eruptions during three periods: Komitake, Kofuji and Shinfuji. The basement rocks beneath the volcano belongs to the Mikasa group, which is composed mainly of Tertiary marine sediments. Moreover, accidental fragments from Tertiary volcanic rocks were also found in Mount Fuji’s eject.

CLIMATE:

The temperature is very low at the high altitude and the cone is covered by snow for several months of the year. The lowest recorded temperature is -38.0 degree centigrade and the highest was 17.8 degree centigrade.

HISTORY :

Mount fuji is an atrractive volcanic cone and a frequent subject of Japanese art especially after 1600, when Edo which is now Tokyo became the capital and people saw the mountain while traveling on the Tokaido road. Fuji-san is mentioned in Japanese literature throughout the ages and is the subject of many poems. Ancient samurai used the base of the mountain as a remote training area, near the present-day town of Gotemba. The shogun Minamoto no Yoritoo held yabusame archery contests in the area in the early Kamakura period. 

ADVANTURE:

Approximately 300000 people climbed Fujisan in 2009. The most popular period for people to hike up this mountain is from July to august when the weather is warmest and other facilities are also operating. Climbing from October to May is very strongly discouraged after a number of deathand severe cold weather. Most Japanese climb Fujisan at night in order to be in a position at or near the summit when the sun rises.