Much like the metric system, a gō is made up of ten kin. In other words, you are now 45% up the mountain.

Gozaishi is a rock where a god is said to reside. This shrine was built as a worship space for this holy boulder and sits in conjunction to a little resting spot. Facing the shrine, from left to right you will find the gozaishi, the shrine, and the resting hut.

Carved into the rock is “Nihonbashi”, or “Bridge of Japan”. This is the mark of the “Nihonbashi Group” of the Fuji-kō. You have probably caught sight of a few stone monuments on your way up here, and this is one of them. When you take a closer look at the gozaishi, you may realize that there are a lot of these monuments around as you continue to climb the mountain.

Just like the crater at the second gō, this place marks an important boundary on the mountain. From here the summit of the mountain comes into view and the trees are shorter, signifying your approach to the world of gods and buddhas in which trees do not grow.

Earlier we stated that in the Edo period women were not allowed to go past the second gō, but if it was a kanoe-saru year, occuring every 60 years, women were permitted to hike up to the four gō and five kin mark. Though unable to reach the summit, the women still desired to lay eyes upon it and this was the “first place” where that could become a reality. Maybe that’s why a rest stop was built here.