The Fujisan Museum is a place where you can take time to review our journey today. After our trip, we went to the Fujisan Museum to talk to the curator, Takeshi Shinohara.

──What is the Fujisan Museum?

Before it was known as the Fujiyoshidashi Museum of Local History, but we used Mt. Fuji’s World Heritage Site registration as an opportunity to renew the museum and feature an exhibition on the Fuji faith. The registration includes Fuji-Yoshida as the focal point of 25 assets, with plenty of physical documents as well. Since Fuji-Yoshida was the base for those climbing Mt.Fuji from foot to summit, this museum is meant to be a resource to deepen one’s knowledge on the Oshi homes, Kitaguchi Hongu Sengen Shrine, the Yoshi Trail, and Fuji-kō.

──Shinohara-san, were you born in Fuji-Yoshida?

I was born over in Chigasaki. When I was in elementary school, the principal would say, “Oh, we can see Mt. Fuji today, can’t we? That’s a lucky sign,” during the morning assembly. For me, Mt. Fuji was a mountain admired from afar. When I became a curator in Fuji-Yoshida, I felt that it was a mountain to be climbed. Faith in this mountain has been around for nearly 1,000 years, and for that reason, the mountain trail still remains. When people say that they only imagine climbing Mt. Fuji from the halfway point up, I couldn’t believe it. I hope everyone that walks through the Yoshida trail has the same reactions I did.

──Recently, what story about Mt. Fuji has surprised you?

There is a Mound Fuji in Shiki-shi, Saitama based on the Yoshida Trail. And what’s surprising is that at each gō there is a rock or monument engraved with the name of a related god. Lately there has been a resurgence of people who want to restore that mound, which has increased foot-traffic to that place. I’m glad that although the Fuji-kō group of that area broke up and there is a preservation committee. The local people cherish that land. It also verifies that the Yoshida trail in Fuji-Yoshida is still relevant, since there is a replica on the mound. Since the Yoshida trail is the only path that starts from the bottom of the mountain, we have re-examined its importance.

──Does Fuji-kō still continue today?

It is said that there are still about 60 Fuji-kō followers that come to Fuji-Yoshida. There are those who every year still spend the night at an Oshi’s home, put on their white outfit, and climb up Mt. Fuji. The places where Fuji-kō still lives on are very strong communities. The Fuji-kō organizations also participate in local festivals of local shrines, and do not limit themselves to just Fuji-kō beliefs. Conversely, most Fuji-kō organizations in urbanized regions are disbanded. It’s so convenient that people can even drive up to the halfway point, huh. “Climbing for Fuji-kō” for the sake of climbing it probably won’t continue on, but rather to “save money and climb” was the Fuji-kō standard.

──Save money?

Long ago, people would walk from Edo. That cost a considerable amount of money. So, they would save up. Everyone in a village would join Fuji-kō and that became the area’s community. But nowadays everyone can go to Mt. Fuji in a day with a car, and there aren’t that many expenses for a single climber anymore, so the need for Fuji-kō has disappeared. So now, in order to protect the Fuji-kō culture and Sengen Shrine, Fuji-kō lives on in another form.

──Does that mean if you deposited money, it would be hard to leave?

There was some of that too. Fuji-kō also served as a bank. With interest, people could take out loans too. Let’s say there were 100 members and every year 10 members could be sent to climb Mt. Fuji. In 10 years, everyone would be able to climb. That was the main purpose. And so that’s why it was kind of a “money-saving organization”. Every month, the members would gather, and pray to Mt. Fuji gods or Fuji-kō hanging scrolls, after which they would mingle with some alcohol and talk about when they would be able to climb Mt. Fuji. It was also a social gathering of sorts. Before the war of course, after the war people would rejoin as members and say with vigor, “Let’s start up Fuji-kō again!” But, when the Subaru Line was created, it was hard for the groups to live on. Since Fuji-kō broke up, the Oshi homes also stopped operating. And since their favorite Oshi homes were no longer there, people decided to stop practicing Fuji-kō. And the importance of Fuji-ko diminished with time.

──So, Fuji-kō wasn’t just a Mt. Fuji climbing group, right?

The target of worship is the gods on Mt. Fuji, but those gods were also enshrined in local shrines and Mound Fujis, so Fuji-kō acted as a community to put on festivals in conjunction with the opening of Mt. Fuji every summer. Many of the leaders of Fuji-kō had an attitude of doing things for the local area and the people, rather than for themselves. Many of the leaders would often say, “Faith is important but first work hard. While working believe and climb Mt. Fuji. That’s what Fuji-kō is all about. That’s what your leader is all about.” When becoming leader, they would do intense training, but it wasn’t to show off. They were all people who were very skilled in taking care of others.

──The focal point of Fuji-kō was the Kanto area, but why would someone from say Kyushu have an emotional attachment to Mt. Fuji?

Mt. Fuji isn’t just large; it also has a large connection to history. In the case of Tokyo, it’s close-by and there are Mound Fujis and Sengen Shrines, which means that one’s ancestors may have had a connection to Mt. Fuji. In the Edo period, even in Kyushu there were feudal lord’s who went to the capital with their attendees. Many warriors would also use that opportunity to climb Mt. Fuji. Also, through ukiyo-e art everyone knew that Mt. Fuji existed. And since it would come up in poetry, it would show up in elementary schools textbooks. People would one day feel the desire to climb the mountain, build Mound Fujis, and name local mountains “something something Fuji”.

──When conducting the “climb from the bottom” tour, what do you talk about?

I talk about the mountain hut ruins found at each gō. While living in the family-run huts for 2 months, people would support the mountain trail. The harshest condition being collecting rainwater. Although spring water would come out from the mountain between the laval, there is no river on Mt. Fuji, so one could only use the rainwater. The stretch between Umagaeshi and the fifth gō became a hotspot because there was water. Past the fifth gō, there were less trees and thus more difficult to collect rainwater. So, people would melt some of the perpetual snow on their roof to get water. It was tough to say the least. Also, they would fill holes along the path with sand. Maintaining the mountain trail was also a difficult task .But, thanks to those efforts, we are able to still climb today. Including the huts between the fifth and eighth gō, the huts still in business today are all over 300 years old. The mountain huts also play an important role in the history of Mt. Fuji.

──When we were photographing the area, there were fallen trees obstructing the path. We really felt that the trail can be easily ruined.

I think the fact that the mountain trail has been consistently maintained is an amazing feat. This is why people are paying attention and it was able to become world heritage site. The only thing left is the Yoshida trail. And that goes for the Oshi and Fuji-kō culture as well. In other places, it’s gone, but it still remains here. It’s moving, isn’t it? Even after the Subaru Line was made, the local people created a preservation committee for the trail, photographers advertised the charm of the path through photos, and that connection was made. And of course, since there were still people climbing, the trail was protected, one climber at a time.

──Recently there are also many people who run the mountain trail, right?

The Fuji Mountain Race has been going on for over 70 years, eh. I think I could see eye to eye with the participants back in the day. There was actually a practice in which by walking around the mountain, you could become one with it. Although mountain racing is a sport, in the same vein, it isn’t. What you feel is the same thing. I have hiked up the mountain several times, but with its 800 year history, I discover something new every climb. Somehow when I see a monument, I always think, “This is the monument of an ancestor of a Fuji-kō practitioner.” One day, a person who had heard the story of ancestors offering up stone monuments came to climb the mountain and discovered these stones and was moved. It’s also interesting to compare Mt. Fuji to other mountains. The vegetation is completely different. There is almost nothing at the entrance to Gotemba. Due to an eruption in the Edo period, everything was buried. No one climbs Mt. Murayama, so it’s become a thick old forest full of moss. I want people experience Mt.Fuji by climbing as many paths as they can.