The Many Lives of Fuji
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Geese in flight against a moonlit Mount Fuji adorn this elegant lacquer box (suzuribako) for writing implements, created in the early to mid-19th century. (Credit: Metropolitan Museum, New York)Metropolitan Museum, New York -
Akiyama Einen’s Map of the Thirteen Provinces from which to View Fuji (1843) provides a top-down view of Fuji, shown in yellow, along with the regions from which the mountain can be seen. Large enough to walk on, the map depicts notable features and sites like rivers, mountains, roads, towns, battlefields, Buddhist temples, and hot springs. (Credit: University of British Columbia Library, G7962.H6 E635 1843 A5)University of British Columbia Library, G7962.H6 E635 1843 A5 -
New Fuji, Meguro (1857), a woodblock print by Utagawa Hiroshige, shows people climbing a “mini-Fuji” (Fujizuka) to view the original mountain in the distance. (Credit: Art Institute of Chicago)Art Institute of Chicago -
The cover of Bernstein’s new book. (Credit: Princeton University Press)Princeton University Press -
During an overseas study program in 2014, Professor Bernstein and Professor Elizabeth Safran led their students to Fuji’s summit. (Credit: Andrew Bernstein)Andrew Bernstein -
Fuji from a children’s Japanese primer published in 1900. The words read: “A big mountain. This is Japan’s greatest mountain.” (Credit: Nihon kyōkasho taikei kindaihen (Kodansha, 1964))Nihon kyōkasho taikei kindaihen (Kodansha, 1964), -
Meteorologists Nonaka Chiyoko and Itaru, a married couple, had a near-death experience while collecting weather data on Fuji’s summit during the winter of 1895–96 (their observatory shown below). (Credit: Takane no yuki (Meiji Shoin, 1896))Takane no yuki (Meiji Shoin, 1896), -
An American B-29 bomber flies over Mount Fuji (1945). (Credit: U.S. Army Air Forces, Wikimedia Commons)U.S. Army Air Forces, Wikimedia Commons
