Local Fujis Around the World
The practice of local communities likening a nearby mountain to Mt. Fuji has a long history. The fame of and popular faith in Mt. Fuji made it a popular name for mountains where people worshiped at Sengen shrines, even if they bore no resemblance to the real thing in scale or form. These are called “local Fujis” (kyodo Fuji). Examples include Owari Fuji (Mt. Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture) and Mino Fuji (Mt. Sengen, Gifu Prefecture), both named after the former province where they are located.
In more recent times, particularly after the Meiji Restoration of 1868, mountains were usually given the Fuji name because of some physical similarity to the original and its iconic snow-capped peak. Rishiri Fuji, the conical volcano forming Rishiri Island in Hokkaido Prefecture, is one example of a local Fuji with a visual resemblance.
In the state of Washington in the USA, the local Japanese community, nostalgic for their home country, likened Mt. Rainier to Mt. Fuji as a symbol of that country and gave it the name Tacoma Fuji.
There are hundreds of local Fujis today, including more than a dozen outside Japan. The circular wall panels on this floor pay tribute to these local Fujis and are placed in their direction relative to the original namesake.