Look at the words hung from the middle of this gate. The first character in “Mt. Fuji” (富士山) is missing the point at the top, representing that Mt. Fuji was not meant to be stood on, but worshipped from afar.
Since long ago, it has been said that there were gods on Mt. Fuji, and if you were Buddhist, there were buddhas. In order to draw closer to the world of the buddhas, many people began to perform a sadhana in the form of a pilgrimage to the mountain, which meant only a small number of extremely religious people would climb Mt. Fuji. But later on, many commoners also adopted this practice in the Edo period, and each region of the nation would form groups to go up Mt Fuji. This set the foundations of Fuji-kō.
They would travel throughout the whole Kanto area. A round-trip adventure from each groups local area to Mt. Fuji plus the climb could take anywhere from one week to one month. Quite a bit of money was necessary, but if you climbed up Mt. Fuji once in your lifetime, then you would have great luck and fortune. The “kō” in Fuji-kō means group and they would range from a few people to up to 50. Each person would contribute a little bit of money, a group representative would be chosen by picking names out of a hat, and that person would be the one to climb Mt. Fuji for the team.
The first goal would be to find the origin of the Mt. Fuji faith, Yoshida Town with its landmark, Kanadorii gate. First, the climber would pass through the Kana-dorii and take their first step into the world of the Fuji faith.
The path leading to Mt. Fuji was lined of with “shukuba”, or post stations found throughout the country during the Edo period for travelers to rest. However, this was no ordinary shukuba town. The head of the lodgings were Shinto priests referred to as “Oshi”, and the Fuji-kō climbers would be in the care of these Oshi and stay in an “Oshi’s home”, though not all climbers were fortunate enough to meet an Oshi. There was actually a public office in front of Kana-dorii Gate to meet with an Oshi. One would fill out their name and address and be introduced to an Oshi with a spare place to sleep. So, what were Fuji-kō people seeking when coming to this town? Well, all of the people who came to climb the mountain wore white clothing which in this case represented “burial clothes”. Climbing the mountain of gods and buddhas means that you would cross the boundary between this world and the world beyond. It was believed that by doing so you were “dying and being reborn”. Through this, sickness would be cured and wishes granted.
