The Funatsu Tainai (Funatsu Lava Tree Molds)
The sheet of rock left by the tenth-century Kenmarubi lava flow north of Mt. Fuji is home to a group of 43 lava tree molds of various sizes. Because they are in the Funatsu district, they are known as the Funatsu lava tree molds, and included in Mt. Fuji’s World Heritage listing under this name. The largest was formed from several adjacent trunks, making it unusually long and complex. From the eighteenth century, this became a place of faith for Fuji-ko pilgrims. It is known today as the Funatsu Tainai.
Takada Toshiro (1706–1782), founder of the Maruto-ko confraternity, was traditionally credited as the first to include the Funatsu Tainai in his group’s pilgrimage route sometime around 1770. Takada claimed that he was guided to discover the tunnel by his teacher, the great Fuji-ko leader Jikigyo Miroku (1671–1733).
The site was later furnished with Buddhist statues and monuments by other confraternities. A wooden sculpture of Takada himself was placed by the entrance to the tunnel, where it still stands. Eventually, Utsumuro Sengen-jinja Shrine was built over the entrance.
The Funatsu Tainai can be visited throughout the year. It shares its site with the newer Kawaguchiko Field Center as well as the shrine.