Mount Fuji is 3,776 meters high. It straddles the boundaries of the Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures, just west of Tokyo. Near the Pacific Coast on Honshu, it is surrounded by the small cities of: Gotemba, Fuji-Yoshida and Fujinomiya. A dormant volcano, Mount Fuji most recently erupted in 1708.
The almost perfectly shaped volcano Mount Fuji (nicknamed, "Fujisan" as a sign of respect) has long been worshipped as a sacred mountain (or incarnation of a deity) making it a popular destination for pilgrims. Under the old Shinto religion, it was a once-in-your-life religious obligation to ascend the holy mountain dressed in white. When Buddhism came to Japan, Mt. Fuji simply converted to a sacred Buddhist mountain. Until the 19th century, women were not allowed to climb it, so miniature Fujis were built -- small hills shaped like the real thing -- for the benefit of anyone who could not climb it.
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