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Fuji-Hakone-Izu NP, Tokyo
Claim this place to tell your story your way.
A major eruption beginning in 838 built Mount Tenjo. Its ash spread across Kanto, Chubu and Kinki, and Tenjo-origin ash has even been identified near Mount Fuji.
Tenjo’s “deserts” are pale volcanic sand, not dunes. On this rhyolitic ground, Oshima azaleas took root first; other plants later joined them, forming wind-shaped green islands across the white summit.
Legend puts the Izu gods’ water-sharing meeting in Tenjo’s Fuirazawa basin: a late Toshima god splashed the leftovers, creating Kozushima’s springs. Porous volcanic layers help explain the island’s real groundwater bounty.
A local picnic favorite is shoyu-meshi: rice with a little glutinous rice, rock seaweed, soy sauce and oil. This home-style Kozushima dish is eaten on ordinary days and at celebrations, too.
Fudo Pond’s water can form a heart around its central islet, where a shrine honors a dragon deity. Kozushima’s fishermen once revered the pond; small shrines to Fudo and Dainichi Buddha stand nearby.
Chiyo Pond, Tenjo’s largest, is rainwater gathered in an old crater—and it can dry up in drought. Frequent mist keeps the surrounding ground moist, allowing wetland plants to persist even when the pond vanishes.
At just 572 meters, Tenjo hosts both coastal and upland plants. July brings Sakuyuri, an Izu Islands endemic: Kozushima’s lilies are usually speckled, unlike the mostly white flowers on nearby Toshima.
