Topic 1 Mt.Fuji-a sacred place and source of artistic inspiration

Hi. In this blog, I'll introduce some of the World Heritage Sites of Japan and some photos related to World Heritages of Japan. So today, I 'll introduce Mt. Fuji. It's Japan's highest peak with an altitude of 3,776 meters. I think Mt. Fuji is one of the most famous and popular mountains in the world. In 2013, Mt. Fuji was registered as a World Heritage Site for it's signicant cultural heritage. But why was Mt. Fuji was registered as a World Heritage Site for it's cultural heritage? Because Mt. Fuji is drawn by many famous artists as a symbol of Japanese culture.

http://www.geocities.jp/zdh/fuji36.htm

This painting is especially famous.It's one of the "Thirty-six  Views of Mount Fuji,"painted by Katsushika Hokusai. Mt. Fuji is also been drawn by Van Gogh, Monet and Utagawa Hiroshige. Mt. Fuji has became a cultural symbol because it was painted by many famous artists. 
 If you want to climb Mt. Fuji, you must choose the cource. Mt. Fuji has four courses, and you will need to choose a course that suits you. So I'll introduce the characteristics of four courses. The first course is called the Yoshida route. It's the most popular course for mountain climbers, because the Yoshida route makes it easy to set to the trainhead and there are many facilities compared to other courses. It's good for beginners. The second course is the Subashiri route. This course has a forest zone spread at high altitude, and it has a lot of shady trees. We can rest in the shade of a tree, but we must be careful not to get lost in the forest zone. The third course is called the Gotemba route. The feature of this course is the amazing scenery. It's a very hard course, so it's for advanced climbers. The last course is the Fujinomiya route. This course is the shortest course to the summit, but there many rocks on a steep slope, so I think it's not recommended for beginners.

When you climb Mt. Fuji, you should prepare there.
・climbing shoes
・rainwear
・an outfit for cold weather
・cap
・easy to eat rich food (like a chocolate)
・water
・plastic waste bag (you must bring back the trash)
・small money for using toillet (some 100yen coin)
・some money for staying at hotel

Various appearance of Mt. Fuji
We can see avarious appearance of Mt. Fuji from this official site. Please check it out right now.
http://www.yamanashi-kankou.jp/kokuritsukoen/jp/movie/index.html

If you go to Mt. Fuji from Tokyo Station
If you want to go to Mt. Fuji from Tokyo station, you should get on the Tokaido Shinkansen Kodama and you get off at Shin-Fuji Station. Then you should get on the bus to Mt. Fuji from Shin-Fuji Station. That way, Mt. Fuji will be in front of your eyes. Have a nice trip.