You have stumbled upon A Sleeping Giant, Sarah's modest tribute site to the wonderous Mt. Fuji of Japan. The purpose of this website is to educate people and promote this glorious landform that God has placed before us. Although this may not be the most informative/interesting/attractive thing on the web, I thought that Mt. Fuji deserved a little page of it's own..

Mount Fuji is a mafic shield volcano located upon the island of Honshu, Japan. It is currently dormant, providing a huge tourist attraction for climbers and photographers alike. Although it is often surrounded by clouds, those who happen to be out and about on a clear day are in for a surprise (..or not =P) as the view is worthwhile. Fortunately for the rest of us "cloudy-day travellers", Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre invented the camera. What a joy it is to live in the twenty-first centery.
 

「 Basic Statistics 」


• Title: Mount Fuji, Fuji-ama, Fujisan, Shin-Fuji
• Location: It stands on the border between Yomanshi and Shizuoka, on the island of Honshu, Japan.
• Lava: Runny, Basaltic (approx. 50% silicon dioxide)
• Volcano Type: Mafic; Sheild Volcano
• Status: Dormant
• Height: 3776.63 m above sea level
• Width: 50km across the base 		• Average Monthly Temperature: -18° to +8°C
• Atmospheric Pressure: 630 to 650 mb
• Longitude: 138° 45'1"E
• Latitude: 35° 21'5"N

 

「 Volcanic Structure 」


Mt. Fuji is very well known for it's perfectly symmetrical cone; this attribute alone plays a huge part in it's immense fame. What many people don't know is that instead of it being just one single structure, it is a group of superimposed cones. Three cones make up the Mt. Fuji we know today, each of them built one upon another; the names of these three cones are Komitake [pronounced ko-me-ta-keh], Ko-Fuji, and Fuji (or Shin-Fuji).

The first cone, Komitake, is believed to have been formed hundreds of thousands of years ago when an earthquake caused the premature volcano to erupt. Several eruptions followed until finally, another volcanic upheaval created what we now know as Mt. Ko-Fuji. Eventually, it was covered by the third cone, and this is the form of Mt. Fuji that we know today.

「 Eruption Information 」


Over the years, Mt. Fuji has erupted several times, the first eruption having taken place over a hundred thousand years ago when an earthquake interupted the seeping hot magma hiding just below the Earth's surface. At least 15 upheavals have taken place since that time, however only 5 of those eruptions were known to have caused any major damage. The most recent eruption--one of the 5 mentioned earlier--occured in 1707-1708, nearly 300 years ago. Because of this, Mt. Fuji is regarded as dormant, and is not expected to erupt anytime soon.

When Mt. Fuji does erupt, it is not your classical "boom-there-goes-everything" explosion, but more of a slow and quiet but very damaging kind of danger. There is no boom. As a matter of fact, there is virtually no explosion at all, however you may still find people fleeing from their houses in panic, as the lava is just as hot as the cartoons portray it.

Random Facts:
• Mt. Fuji has erupted at least 16 times since 781 AD.
• There were two very large eruptions in the years 1050 and 290 BC. 		• The lava that Mt. Fuji maintains is Basaltic, containing 50% silicon. It is also very runny, and slow-moving.
• For the most part, Mt. Fuji's eruptions have been moderate to moderate-large in size.

 

「 Tourism 」


As mentioned above, Mt. Fuji is a huge tourist attraction, literally. Many people in the world enjoy climbing & exploring mountains, and Mt. Fuji is no exception. Over two hundred thousand people climb to the summit each year, and thirty percent of those brave climbers happen to be foreigners. There are also many pictures and paintings that feature Mt. Fuji, some selling for nearly $200. It is best seen from the train trip along the Tokaido Line between Tokyo and Osaka, and is officialy open for climbing during July and August.
 

「 Heritage 」


There was a point in time when Mt. Fuji was worshipped as a sacred mountain. At this time women were forbidden to climb it, for fear of making "the goddess of the mountain" jealous. Though much of this has changed, Mt. Fuji remains a huge part of Japan's heritage.

Mt. Fuji has become a key landmark known to many people around the world. It is believed to be rivalled with Mt. Vesevius for the best-known volcano in the world. Mt. Fuji has also appeared in the backgrounds of many paintings, simply there to establish the setting of the scene. This is effective because Mt. Fuji has such a distinct shape and form that once people recognize it, they immediately think "Japan".
 

「 Interesting Facts 」


• Mt Fuji is the highest volcano in Japan.
• It is also the most Famous.
• During the winter the upper half of the volcano is white with snow, though you are able to see patches of ice even during mid-summer.
• Mt. Fuji is featured on the bill for 500yen.
 

「 Images & Photographs 」

Credit for the following images belong to:
• VolcanoWorld
• Class IV Volcano Project 		• Japan-Guide.com
• Mt.FUJI Internet Server 		• Fuji Volcano
A 500yen Bill
 

ARTWORK
• Yoju's Studio
• Tomi Ito Levin 		• Hiroshi Yoshida
• Katsushika Hokusai 		• Hokkei Totoya


 

「 Definitions 」


JAPANESE -> ENGLISH
• Fuji -> Wisteria
• Ko (Kofuji) -> Late or deceased. 		• Shin (Shinfuji) -> New.
• san (Fujisan) -> three

OTHER
• wis·ter·i·a (w-stîr-) also wis·tar·i·a (w-stâr-)n.
 Any of several climbing woody vines of the genus Wisteria in the pea family, having pinnately compound leaves and drooping racemes of showy purplish or white flowers. ***
 

「 Sources 」


• H., Tsuya. Fuji Volcano. Hakone. 11/13/04
  <http://hakone.eri.u-tokyo.ac.jp/vrc/others/fuji.html

• R., Maddy. Mount Fuji. Class IV Volcano Project. 11/13/04
  <http://www.marymount.k12.ny.us/marynet/stwbwk03/ClassIV/volop/clskl/mrvol/>

• Info Mt.Fuji Mt.FUJI Internet Server. 11/13/04
  <http://www.mt-fuji.co.jp/info/info.html>

• Fuji, Honshu, Japan. VolcanoWorld. 11/13/04
  <http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/img_fuji.html>

• Travel - Mount Fuji. Japan-Guide.com. 11/13/04
  <http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2172.html>
 

「 Etcetera 」


Founded November, 12. 2004.

Layout Credit: • Mount Fuji Artwork by Tomi ito Levin
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