In earlier times, people did not climb Mount Fuji.

People stood at its base, looked up, and prayed, believing that a deity, Asama no Ōkami, resided there.

The mountain, rising straight into the sky like a pillar connecting this world to the divine, was worshipped from afar in a practice called yōhai.
For this reason, people didn’t climb the mountain. Instead, they worshipped it from afar.

In other words, Mount Fuji was not a mountain to approach. It was a mountain to pray to.

But as time passed, people gradually began to set foot on the mountain.
Why did people begin to climb this sacred mountain of the gods?

Behind this change was a new form of prayer known as mountain worship.