This marks the beginning of the Yoshida Trail. A lot of mainstream mountain trails are paved, but on this trail, you can experience the same route that people have climbed for generations. So let’s take the scenic route.

By the way, if you veer off the paved road and walking path, you will find the guidepost as seen in the next picture. It reads, “Right: Path to gather firewood, Left: Path up mountain.” Was the true mountain trail here? Or maybe there actually was never a true “historical” path. Mt. Fuji is open to climb every summer. During the off-season, the mountain trail gets rough, and preparations need to be made before opening the mountain to the public. So naturally, the climbing path changes every year to accommodate the rough mountain frontier.

──Approximately 3.5km from Sengen Shrine to Naka no Chaya Teahouse──

While walking along this path, please listen to some Mt. Fuji folklore.

There’s no exact moment when people started believing a god lived on Mt. Fuji, but we do know that the god was called Asama no Ōkami. And as Buddhism grew in popularity in the Heian period, the being became known as Sengen Daibosatsu. (“Asama” and “Sengen” share the same Japanese characters).

In the Kamakura period, the god living on Mt. Fuji was believed to be Princess Kaguya. The legend goes that this princess born from bamboo was going to return to the moon after refusing the emperor’s marriage proposal. During their last meeting, Princess Kaguya gifted the emperor a medicine of immortality. But the emperor declined stating, “What good is being immortal in a world without Princess Kaguya?” So he ordered the medicine to be burned at the location closest to the heavens. Many courageous people climbed to the summit of Mt. Fuji, the highest point in all of Japan and burned the medicine of immortality. Since the mountain at the time was still active you could see the smoke rising from its peak and because the brave warriors climbed to the top despite this danger, the place was said to be “rich (富) in warriors (士)”, which if read in a different way in Japanese, spells out Fuji (富士), giving the mountain its current name.

The legend of Kaguya Hime actually originates in the Muromachi period.

An old man and woman discovered Princess Kaguya, who was born in the bamboo forest at the foot of Mt. Fuji and raised her like their own. After the Princess grew into a beautiful woman, she fell in love with an influential man in town, and the two lived together harmoniously. However, when the old man and woman passed away, Princess Kaguya confessed to the man, “I belong to Mt. Fuji and I must return to my residence.” And just like that, she disappeared. The man, upset by his recent breakup, set out to the summit of Mt. Fuji, but Princess Kaguya was nowhere to be found. He looked down into the mouth of the volcano and among the smoke, he could faintly see the Princess’s figure. In an instant, the man leaped into the volcano. In the end, were the two really able to meet again? It’s said that the two appeared together as the gods of Mt. Fuji

In the Edo period, the story changed again. This time Princess Konohanasakuya came to be known as the god of the mountain. Of course, there is another legend surrounding this being of unequaled beauty.
One day, Princess Konohanasakuya was worried about being “just a beautiful woman”. So, she decided to hike up Mt. Fuji, something no one had ever done before, by herself. However, the climb was intense, and she lost her way mid-climb. At that moment, three monkeys appeared and showed her the way. Thanks to them, Princess Konohanasakuya was able to reach the summit. She expressed her thanks to the monkeys, but also told them to not tell anyone that she came here. So each monkey covered it’s eyes, ears, and mouth; they promised to “see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil”. Relieved, the Princess went to the highest point and stuck a sword in the ground. That spot became known as “Sword Peak” (Kengamine).

There are other tales about Princess Konohanasakuya. One day, a god by the name of Ninigi no Mikoto came down to earth. He laid eyes upon a woman and fell in love. Of course that woman was Princess Konohanasakuya. After the two got married, the Princess was with child after just one night. Ninigi no Mikoto had his suspicions. “Is that really my child?” he said. Shocked at his accusation, Princess Konohanasakuya shut herself in the maternity room. In order to prove her innocence, she set fire to the maternity room. “If even among these flames, this child is born safely, it is yours,” she said. And so, the Princess safely gave birth to three children.

Asama Ōkami, Princess Kaguya, Princess Konohanasakuya. No matter how you put it, the god of Mt. Fuji is thought to be a goddess, more specifically a goddess of fire prevention and childbirth. Currently some Japanese people refer to their wives as their “gods” in conversation by saying phrases such as, “So the other day the goddess…”. Mt. Fuji is also the first mountain to start the common trend of mountain gods being usually regarded as female. Maybe it’s attributed to the scary and and angry features of a volcano.