The Changing Fuji Faith
The Modern Age: Mountaineering as Leisure
The Meiji Restoration of 1868 brought massive political and cultural change, and the spiritual traditions around Mt. Fuji were not exempt. A government order to separate Shinto and Buddhism (shinbutsu bunri) changed the religious character of the mountain almost overnight. Buddhist deities were summarily banished from the summit, their statues destroyed or literally dragged down the mountainside. Instead of the peak where the Primordial Buddha Dainichi Nyorai resided, Mt. Fuji became a mountain that enshrined the Shinto deity Konohanasakuya Hime. For the first time in centuries, the mountain was viewed as the abode of the goddess alone.
Japan’s increasing contact with the Western world at the time saw the country adopt new forms of leisure, including mountaineering. People began to climb Mt. Fuji not for ascetic or religious purposes but simply for recreation. Social trends and changes in community life also caused the number of Fuji-ko confraternities to decline.
Welcoming Women to Mt. Fuji
Another major change during the Meiji era (1868–1912) was the end of the official ban on women climbing the mountain. In practice, women had been climbing Mt. Fuji for decades, but the longstanding formal prohibition was lifted in 1872. Even among the oshi, there was no strong opposition to this.
