The Changing Fuji Faith
Ancient Times: Worshiping from Afar
The repeated eruptions of Mt. Fuji were considered to be divine wrath manifest in its most destructive, terrifying form. To prevent these catastrophes, the deity of the mountain, Asama no Kami, had to be propitiated. Mt. Fuji was traditionally considered part of Suruga Province (modern-day Shizuoka Prefecture), so the imperial court ordered a shrine built on the mountain’s south side where priests could perform this important task. This shrine was the predecessor of today’s Fujisan Hongu Sengen-taisha Shrine. To further appease the deity, the court also granted Asama no Kami the prestigious divine title of Myojin and raised it to senior third court rank.
Nevertheless, in 864, Mt. Fuji erupted with catastrophic force. This was the Jogan Eruption, so named because 864 was the sixth year of the Jogan era. The court determined by divination that the priests of Suruga had neglected their worship of Asama no Kami. The priests were reprimanded and ordered to redouble their efforts. It also ordered officials in Kai Province (modern-day Yamanashi Prefecture), which had suffered greatly from the eruption, to build another shrine to Asama no Kami to the mountain’s north. The shrine was built the following year, in 865, in an area called Yatsushiro, and priests were assigned to worship there. Researchers believe that this shrine was the predecessor of Kawaguchi Asama-jinja Shrine on the north shore of Lake Kawaguchiko. The flanks of the mountain behind the shrine offer a view across the lake of Mt. Nagao, a crater formed by the Jogan Eruption, and Aokigahara Jukai Forest, which stands on a sheet of igneous rock formed by the eruption’s lava flow. A new site of worship was thus established in a location that reflected the exact point on the mountain from which the ash and lava had come.
In fact, all of the major shrines on the north side of Mt. Fuji are located with similar awareness of earlier eruptions. Arakura Fuji Sengen-jinja Shrine is located on the flank of a mountain with a view of Mt. Fuji across the Kenmarubi lava flow from the first half of the tenth century. There is also a Sengen-jinja shrine in Shimoyoshida, the neighboring district to Arakura in Fujiyoshida, and the main hall of this shrine faces Mt. Fuji directly with the Kenmarubi lava flow at its rear.
The people who lived at the base of Mt. Fuji had known its power for centuries. For this reason, each village built its own shrine to worship the mountain and pray for volcanic activity to subside. This is why there are Sengen-jinja shrines to Asama no Kami scattered around the foot of the mountain. However, researchers believe that climbing to the summit as an expression of faith did not begin until the eleventh century.
