Mount Fuji ( 富士山 , Fuji-san ? , ) is the highest mountain in Japan at 3,776 m (12,388 ft). Along with Mount Tate and Mount Haku, it is one of Japan's "Three Holy Mountains" (三霊山 Sanreizan). An active volcano that last erupted in 1707–08, Mount Fuji is just west of Tokyo, and can be seen on a clear day. Mount Fuji's exceptionally symmetrical cone is a well-known symbol of Japan and it is frequently depicted in art and photographs, as well as visited by sightseers and climbers.
Name
Etymology
The current kanji for Mount Fuji, 富 and 士, mean wealth or abundant and a man with a certain status respectively. However, these characters are probably ateji, meaning that the characters were likely selected because their pronunciations match the syllables of the name but do not carry a particular meaning.
The origin of the name Fuji is unclear. A text of the 10th century Tale of the Bamboo Cutter says that the name came from "immortal" ( 不死 , fushi, fuji ? ) and also from the image of abundant ( 富 , fu ? ) soldiers ( 士 , shi, ji ? ) ascending the slopes of the mountain. An early folk etymology claims that Fuji came from 不二 ( not + two ), meaning without equal or nonpareil . Another claims that it came from 不尽 ( not + exhaust ), meaning neverending . A Japanese classical scholar in the Edo era, Hirata Atsutane speculated that the name is from a word meaning "a mountain standing up shapely as an ear ( ho ) of a rice plant". A British missionary John Batchelor (1854–1944) argued that the name is from the Ainu word for 'fire' ( fuchi ) of the fire deity (Kamui Fuchi), which was denied by a Japanese linguist Kyōsuke Kindaichi (1882–1971) on the grounds of phonetic development (sound change). It is also pointed out that huchi means an 'old woman' and ape is the word for 'fire', ape huchi kamuy being the fire deity. Research on the distribution of place names that include fuji as a part also suggest the origin of the word fuji is in the Yamato language rather than Ainu. A Japanese toponymist Kanji Kagami argued that the name has the same root as 'wisteria' ( fuji ) and 'rainbow' ( niji , but with an alternative word fuji ), and came from its "long well-shaped slope".
Variations
Fuji-san is often referred to in Western texts as Fujiyama or even, redundantly, as Mount Fujiyama, but this reading is not correct in standard Japanese.
In Nihon-shiki and Kunrei-shiki romanization, the name is transliterated as Huzi . Other Japanese names for Mt. Fuji, which have become obsolete or poetic, include Fuji-no-Yama (ふじの山, the Mountain of Fuji ), Fuji-no-Takane (ふじの高嶺, the High Peak of Fuji ), Fuyō-hō (芙蓉峰, the Lotus Peak ), and Fugaku (富岳 or 富嶽, the first character of 富士, Fuji , and 岳, mountain ).
History
Mount Fuji is an attractive volcanic cone and a frequent subject of Japanese art. Among the most renowned works are Hokusai's 36 Views of Mount Fuji and his One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji . The mountain is mentioned in Japanese literature throughout the ages and is the subject of many poems.
It is thought that the first ascent was in 663 by an anonymous monk. The summit has been thought of as sacred since ancient times and was forbidden to women until the Meiji Era. Ancient samurai used the base of the mountain as a remote training area, near the present day town of Gotemba. The shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo held yabusame in the area in the early Kamakura period.
The first ascent by a foreigner was by Sir Rutherford Alcock in September 1860, from the foot of the mountain to the top in eight hours and three hours for the descent. Alcock's brief narrative in The Capital of the Tycoon was the first widely disseminated description of the mountain in the West. Lady Fanny Parkes, the wife of British ambassador Sir Harry Parkes, was the first non-Japanese woman to ascend Mount Fuji in 1867. Photographer Felix Beato climbed Mount Fuji in that same year.
Today, Mount Fuji is an international destination for tourism and mountain-climbing. In the early 20th century, populist educator Frederick Starr's Chautauqua lectures about his several ascents of Mount Fuji—1913, 1919, and 1923—were widely known in America. A well-known Japanese saying suggests that anybody would be a fool not to climb Mt. Fuji once—but a fool to do so twice. It remains a popular meme in Japanese culture, including making numerous movie appearances, inspiring the Infiniti logo, and even appearing in medicine with the Mount Fuji sign. As of 2006, the Japan Self-Defense Forces and the United States Marine Corps operate military bases near Mount Fuji.
Geography
Mt. Fuji is a distinctive feature of the geography of Japan. It stands 3,776 m (12,388 ft) high and is located near the Pacific coast of central Honshū, just west of Tokyo. It straddles the boundary of Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures. Three small cities surround it: Gotemba to the south, Fujiyoshida to the north, and Fujinomiya to the southwest. It is also surrounded by five lakes: Lake Kawaguchi, Lake Yamanaka, Lake Sai, Lake Motosu and Lake Shoji. They, and nearby Lake Ashi, provide excellent views of the mountain. The mountain is part of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. It can be seen more distantly from Yokohama, Tokyo, and sometimes as far as Chiba, Saitama, and Lake Hamana when the sky is clear.
The climate is very cold due to the altitude, and the cone is covered by snow for several months of the year. The lowest recorded temperature is −38.0 °C while on June 2008 the highest temperature was recorded at 17.8 °C.
Aokigahara
Main article: AokigaharaThe forest at the base of the mountain is named Aokigahara. Folk tales and legends tell of demons, ghosts, and goblins haunting the forest, and in the 19th century, Aokigahara was one of many places poor families abandoned the very young and the very old. Aokigahara is the world’s second most popular suicide location after San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. Since the 1950s, more than 500 people have lost their lives in the forest, mostly suicides. Approximately 30 suicides have been counted yearly, with a high of nearly 80 bodies in 2002. The recent increase in suicides prompted local officials to erect signs that attempt to convince potential suicides to re-think their desperate plans, and sometimes these messages have proven effective. The numbers of suicides in the past creates an allure that has persisted across the span of decades.
Due to the dense forest and rugged inaccessibility, the forest has also attracted thrill seekers. Many of these hikers marked their travelled routes by leaving coloured plastic tapes behind, causing concerns from prefectural officials with regard to the forest's ecosystem.
Adventuring
Transportation
The closest airport with scheduled international service is Mt. Fuji Shizuoka Airport. It opened in June 2009. It is about 80 kilometres (50 mi) from Mt. Fuji. The major international airports serving Tokyo, Tokyo International Airport (Haneda Airport) in Tokyo and Narita International Airport in Chiba, are some hours from Mount Fuji.
On 5 March 1966, BOAC Flight 911, a Boeing 707, broke up in flight and crashed near Mount Fuji Gotemba New fifth station, shortly after departure from Tokyo International Airport. All 113 passengers and 11 crew members were killed in the disaster, which was attributed to extreme clear air turbulence caused by lee waves downwind of the mountain. There is now a memorial for the crash a little way down from the Gotemba New fifth station.
Climbing routes
An estimated 200,000 people climb Mount Fuji every year, 30 percent of whom are foreigners. The most popular period for people to hike up Mt. Fuji is from 1 July to 27 August, while huts and other facilities are operating. Buses to the fifth station start running on 1 July. Some climb the mountain at night in order to be in a position at or near the summit when the sun rises.
There are four major routes from the fifth station to the summit with an additional four routes from the foot of the moun
How to Start a Travel Agency From Home | eHow.com
Such an agency can help you start off your travel agency and with time you can make your own contacts and ... Onebox® - Virtual Phone System for Small/Medium Businesses. Service ...
Welcome to Manuel Antonio Group Website! Costa Rica - Travel Agency
Lynch Travel Agency. Costa Rica south and central pacific ... << Start< Prev 1 Next > End >>... Virtual Gallery
Start Your Own Business as a CYBER TRAVEL AGENT
Start your very own virtual travel agency on the net, today! It's as easy as — Purchasing the books and training material shown on the left,
Agent@Home Magazine - Travel Tech - The Virtual Agency
Similarly, Virtual Travel Expos are available live, for ... A new model is emerging: the virtual agency. And home ... beyond the shore in Puerto Rico. 3 nights start at $209† Travel ...
Travel Agency Training | Travel Agency Career
Virtual Learning; Newsletter Archive; Current Students. School Policy ... Travel Agency Training Classes. Travel Academy graduates start their travel careers with travel agencies, as travel ...
Travel Contact Tourism and Travel Agency - Bolivia Contact
Travel Contact tourism and travel agency start as a response to the necessity to provide air tickets sale as ... SITE MAP | TRAVEL JOBS | VIRTUAL GALLERY OF ART IN ...
How to Open a Travel Agency | eHow.com
If you own a home, use your home’s equity as collateral. The start-up cost for a travel agency is ... Onebox® - Virtual Phone System for Small/Medium Businesses. Service includes ...
Travel agency clerk/travel consultant: Job description and activities ...
Virtual fair; Flexible working; Gap year; Self-employment ... aiming towards branch management will start off in this role before moving up the ranks to the role of travel agency manager.
Philippine Travel, Manila Travel Agencies, Airlines, Cruises
Wow Philippines Travel Agency : Asian Cruises Coco Explorer. Southern Cruise ... Boracay Virtual Tour. Cletus & Mavels. Davao Guide. Dive ...
YourNameTravel.com - Make Money or Save Money With a PLS
Now you can have your own On-line Travel Agency with a Private Labeled Site (PLS) from YourNameTravel.com sm. A PLS is branded with your logo and customized by you