Photo/Illutration Susumu Watanabe shows massive rocks lying at the bottom of the No. 1 Hoei volcanic vent at Mount Fuji in Gotenba, Shizuoka Prefecture. (Eiichi Murano)

Editor’s note: This is part of a series of stories featuring the aesthetic landscapes of Mount Fuji, Hakone in Kanagawa Prefecture and Izu in Shizuoka Prefecture, which have been visited by an increasing number of tourists from overseas. Based on conversations with travelers, the series casts light on sceneries and cultural heritages that gave form to these areas.

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The slope carpeted with a mix of gravel and sand made crunching sounds under my shoes, and small, white flowers were in bloom along the trail.

I climbed Mount Fuji from the fifth station on the Fujinomiya route in Shizuoka Prefecture on Aug. 2. About 10 minutes after taking a detour from the climbing route at the sixth station to the east, I found myself gazing at a crater over 1 kilometer wide. It was the No. 1 Hoei vent that formed after the 1707 eruption.

A group of four non-Japanese men were snapping photos against the backdrop of the massive crater, all dressed lightly and at least one of them wore sandals.

They said they were engineers working for a machine bearing manufacturer in India. After receiving skills training at a company in Iwata, Shizuoka Prefecture, they decided to come to Mount Fuji before returning home early the next day.

“We climbed up to see the crater featured on the map,” said Rajeev Kumar Srivastav, 42.

There was also a group of 11 male and female members of the Hosei University outdoor activity club looking down at the vent. The students left the Tagonoura bay area in Fuji city at noon the previous day to reach the summit.

“The crater is so big. It shows the destructive power of the eruption," said 21-year-old Koharu Nishimura. “Mount Fuji has a huge presence as an object of faith.”

CATERING TO FOREIGN CLIMBERS

National flags with text reading “Top Mt. Fuji 3,776 meters” are displayed inside a shop at the fifth station for climbers to take photos with when they reach the summit. Of about 10 countries, the U.S. flag is the best-seller, while the Filipino, Indonesian and Brazilian flags also sell well, according to staff members.

Naoshi Kiyomoto, 65, and other mountain guides answer questions from foreign climbers in English at an information center at the fifth station. They urge visitors not to wear sandals if they wish to climb and not to litter, in addition to showing cards written with the heads-up messages in Thai, Filipino and other languages for people from Southeast Asia. On Aug. 1, 58 non-Japanese people turned up at the office. Most of them were heading to the summit, while eight asked about the Hoei vent, officials said.

Naruhito, who ascended the Chrysanthemum Throne and ushered in the Reiwa Era on May 1, climbed Mount Fuji from the Fujinomiya entrance to the summit along the Gotenba route via the No. 1 Hoei vent before descending to the Gotenba entrance in August 2008 when he was the crown prince. Since then, the course has been dubbed the “Prince route” and is popular among climbers, as it is associated with the imperial family.

On Aug. 21, a large group of men and women from Matsuzaki, Shizuoka Prefecture, were seen sitting on benches at the bottom of the No. 1 Hoei vent, eating boxed lunches in a cheerful mood.

Massive rocks were scattered around, with many signboards set up warning against falling rocks.

“This is a trace of lava that splashed from the vent,” said Susumu Watanabe, a 77-year-old field guide, pointing to the upper part of a large rock with a rough surface. “The bottom part is smooth molten rock. It shows how fierce the eruption was.”

I also met Christian Meister, a 43-year-old from Germany, at the sixth station. He was surprised to learn that volcanic ash from the 1707 eruption reached Tokyo.

Meister enjoyed interacting with other climbers going up and down the famed mountain, saying:

“Many people, older and younger people, (were) going up. It’s nice--everyone saying, ‘konnichiwa.'”

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Eiichi Murano is chief of The Asahi Shimbun’s Odawara and Atami bureaus.