Mt. Fuji and Its World
Here on the ground floor of the South Wing, Mt. Fuji and its environs lie at your feet. This enormous contour map depicts a circular area 1,000 kilometers in diameter, with the peak at its center. The circled numbers on the map mark UNESCO World Heritage sites, and the colored lines indicate the routes to places of worship on and around the mountain. Wall panels describe sites of interest beyond the area depicted on the map. Their location indicates the direction in which the site lies relative to Mt. Fuji’s summit.
The entire ground floor is a microcosm of Mt. Fuji and its world, portraying the three major forms of worship and religious practices the mountain has inspired over the centuries:
- Reverence from afar: the mountain as an object of worship, whether directly or in the imagination
- Ascent to the peak: climbing into the presence of the divine to return reborn
- Circuit pilgrimages: routes visiting multiple sacred sites on and around the mountain, including the Hakkai Meguri (Eight-Lake Circuit) and Ohachi Meguri (around the crater at the summit)
You can explore this space as you please. Arriving from the north at Yoshida, you can follow in the footsteps of the Fuji-ko pilgrims from Edo (modern-day Tokyo), who went through the great torii at Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen-jinja Shrine and up the Yoshida Ascending Route to the peak. Or you can circle the mountain slowly, touring mystical lava caves and Shinto shrines. Clusters of smaller exhibits around the floor offer a more in-depth look at themes such as art, literature, history, and the otherworldly summit. Route suggestions are also available based on specific interests.
