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Fuji-Hakone-Izu NP, Yamanashi / Shizuoka
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Red and black bands stripe the crater wall like pages in a rock diary. The upper red gravel records the last explosive summit eruption, about 2,300 years ago; 1707’s famous blast came from Fuji’s southeast flank.
A text written before 879 describes Fuji’s summit hollow as a cooking pot, with a strange pond and rising vapor. Volcanologists interpret it as a steaming crater lake—an astonishingly early written glimpse of the crater at work.
The summit crater is about 780 m across—wide enough for Tokyo Skytree laid on its side—and its rim circuit is about 3 km. This is no little dip at the summit; it is a vast volcanic bowl.
Summit peaks were likened to the petals of an eight-petalled Buddhist lotus, with the crater’s sacred center as its heart. The name O-hachi-meguri may preserve an older phrase for circling those eight peaks.
Pilgrims called the crater floor the Inner Sanctuary (Naiin), worshipped the kami and Buddha believed to dwell there, and scattered coins into it as offerings. This immense volcanic bowl was also a shrine.
After snowmelt, a small pond appears near Mishima Peak: Konoshiro Pond. Local legend says konoshiro fish live there, though the high-altitude pool itself is seasonal.
Two summit water sources carry grand names: Kinmei (Golden) and Ginmei (Silver) Water. Meltwater seeping through lava was so precious to pilgrims that they collected it and treated the springs as sacred.
In 1874, the government’s separation of Buddhism and Shinto removed summit Buddhist statues, changed Buddhist peak names, and turned temples into shrines. Pilgrims kept coming: the faith endured the makeover.
Though Fuji’s last explosive summit eruption was about 2,300 years ago, the rim still steamed in modern times: Japan’s Meteorological Agency records 82°C activity in 1897 and about 50°C in 1957; no steam was seen there in 1982.
Look for Tiger Rock and Thunder Rock: both are lava projections jutting toward the crater, named for the shapes they suggest. Their memorable names give landmarks to a landscape built by eruptions.
