Mount Fuji: A sleeping giant stirs p12
Mount Fuji is a cultural icon and Japan's most important geological feature. Yet until it began rumbling a few years ago, scientists had almost completely ignored it, says David Cyranoski. Is it preparing to erupt again?
http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v428/n6978/index.html
Mount Fuji
Japan is one of the world’s most mountainous countries, so it’s not surprising that mountain worship is an historic element of Japanese culture. And of all the mountains in Japan, Mount Fuji stands out as a unique cultural symbol. At 12,388 feet, Fuji is Japan’s tallest mountain. It’s easily recognized and greatly admired for its perfect volcanic-cone shape, which many liken to an inverted fan. Japan’s two major religions, Shinto and Buddhism, regard Fuji as sacred, and Japanese from all walks of life attest to the power of this natural symbol so deeply inscribed in the national psyche. Unlike many other sacred mountains, belief dictates that this one should be climbed, and hundreds of thousands of people, both religious adherents and tourists, climb Fuji every year. This popularity has caused a pollution problem so severe that it has prevented Mount Fuji from receiving designation as a UNESCO World Heritage site. As Japanese citizens and nonprofits work to clean up their beloved mountain and obtain World Heritage status, scientists and government agencies are tackling another challenge. For the first time in 300 years, this active volcano may soon blow its top—and Japan must be prepared to handle this potential disaster. Japan’s sacred history and national identity are tied to this mountain, which, as author Edwin Bernbaum explains, “symbolizes the quest for beauty and perfection that has shaped so much of Japanese culture, both secular and sacred.”
History
Mount Fuji is a composite volcano, growing larger as layer upon layer of lava and ash built up on its slopes. Like its geologic history, Mount Fuji’s sacred history has also developed over time as different religions, beliefs and myths have added new layers. Since ancient times, the mountains of Japan have been revered as sacred places, giving rise to a tradition of beliefs and rituals that scholars call sangaku shinko, meaning “mountain creed.” When Shinto, the native religion of Japan, emerged sometime before the sixth century A.D., it wove this mountain creed into a wider veneration of nature. According to Shinto belief, natural features such as trees, lakes, streams, rocks and mountains are the dwelling places of spirits called kami, which hold influence over human affairs and respond to human prayer and ritual. Kami are believed to be concentrated in mountain areas, and shrines have been erected to mark sacred spots. The introduction of Buddhism from China in the sixth century further developed the practice of mountain worship as Buddhists, who viewed mountain climbing as a metaphor for the spiritual ascent to enlightenment, adopted Shinto sacred mountains as pilgrimage destinations. In the ninth century, a religious sect called Shugendo arose that based its doctrine and practice on mountain climbing itself, believing that practitioners could commune with deities on mountain summits and thereby obtain supernatural powers.
The name “Fuji” most likely came from an indigenous Ainu word meaning “deity of fire”—not surprising for a volcano that erupted often. In about 800 A.D., a shrine was built near the base of the mountain with the hope of placating the god that caused the volcano’s eruptions. Fuji later became regarded as the dwelling of the Shinto goddess Konohana Sakuya Hime, “the Goddess of the Flowering Trees.” Today, she is still the principal deity of the sacred mountain, revered in Shinto shrines at Fuji’s base and summit, including the one originally built for the older fire god, and honored in a fire ceremony at the end of each year’s climbing season. Buddhists found in Fuji an inspiring symbol of meditation and called its summit “zenjo,” a Buddhist term describing a perfect meditative state. Buddhists also came to regard Fuji as the abode of the Buddha of All-Illuminating Wisdom. In the 14th century, Shugendo practitioners established the first climbing route to lead pilgrims to Fuji’s summit. Four centuries later, Fuji-ko, societies devoted to the worship of Fuji, became a major religious movement and inspired thousands of people to embark on annual pilgrimages. Those unable to make the climb used lava sand from the mountain to create miniature Fujis in home gardens and Shinto shrines.
Today, pilgrims, including members of Fuji-ko, still climb Mount Fuji. Some stop to worship at the shrine of Konohana Sakuya Hime, pray at the summit altars or ritually circumambulate the volcano’s crater. Others make the climb out a sense of tradition rather than genuine Fuji worship, but the mountain’s strong mystical appeal continues. Mount Fuji is also an important religious center: nearly 2,000 religious organizations are based around the mountain, including one of Japan’s largest Buddhist sects. Although visitors climb Fuji year-round, the official climbing season runs from July 1 to August 31. During this time, Japanese and international tourists far outnumber pilgrims, and restaurants and lodging huts open at the summit and at stations along the route to cater to these visitors. During the 2003 climbing season about 156,000 people made the ascent—some 5,000 per day—but in previous years the number has been 200,000 or more.
Current Challenges
With hundreds of thousands of visitors climbing Fuji each year, pollution caused by tourism has been an issue of great concern for those who revere the mountain. In the 1960s, Japan built a highway halfway up the mountain, unleashing a tourism boom that over the course of decades has fouled the peak and its environs with trash and sewage. In the early 1990s, the situation finally compelled local citizens and environmental groups to seek protection for Fuji by petitioning to have the volcano declared a World Heritage site of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). But after a visit in 1995, UNESCO representatives concluded that although Mount Fuji was worthy of World Heritage listing, Japan first would have to solve the pollution problems and implement an effective management plan.
Japanese citizens and organizations responded by launching a clean-up campaign, and their efforts have been successful. Nearly 900 pounds of garbage were carried off the summit in 2003, and another four tons were collected from visitor rest areas along the trails. However, Fuji still has not been deemed eligible for World Heritage site listing and environmental problems persist. Environmentalists identify sewage as the next challenge. With thousands of visitors spending an average of 10 hours a day on the mountain during the climbing season, Fuji requires a significant waste-management system. Unfortunately, that system has consisted of collecting human waste in storage tanks and dumping it down the mountain when the climbing season closes, leaving “white rivers” of toilet paper and a horrible stench. Since 2002, several environmentally friendly bio-toilets have been installed that use cedar chips and microorganisms to break down human waste, but their capacity is limited and they account for only a small fraction of the nearly 100 toilets on the mountain.
Although the challenge of cleaning up Mount Fuji has been at the forefront of public attention and action, the possibility of a near-future volcanic eruption is a threat that poses far greater consequences. In the fall of 2000, Japanese scientists began detecting a surge in activity inside the volcano: a significant increase in small tremors—more than 200 a month compared to prior averages of 10 per month—and the movement of magma, possibly toward the surface. This activity, the scientists said, indicated that the volcano could possibly erupt sometime soon. Mount Fuji’s last eruption, in 1707, lasted 16 days and produced a 6-mile-wide cloud of smoke and ash that blocked out the sun in some areas.
A government report issued in 2002 said a new eruption could spew lava, debris and ash over hundreds of square miles—threatening nearby villages, cutting off electricity and water supplies, and disrupting road, rail and air travel. Resulting damage could cost up to $21 billion (US). In 2003, seismic activity began to calm down, but late in the year scientists detected another indication of dangerous activity beneath the earth’s surface. Steam was rising from holes in the side of Fuji, possibly caused by the movement of molten rock deep below. Despite these signs of renewed volcanic activity, experts cannot predict when the next eruption will occur. They do say, however, that it is a question of “when,” not “if.”
Preservation Efforts
In 1998, environmentalist and mountain climber Toyohiro Watanabe founded the Fujisan Club to combat Mount Fuji’s pollution problem by organizing cleanup efforts, raising public awareness and building alliances with “sister mountains” in other countries. The club says it has picked up at least 17 tons of garbage; it has also set up bio-toilets along the route to the summit and hauled up cedar chips for use in the toilets. It is also working to clean up and curb the dumping of industrial and household wastes in the forests at the base of Mount Fuji. In 2003, club members began using global positioning system devices and mobile phone cameras to assemble a detailed computer map of the waste sites to aid clean-up. Maps and photos of dump sites are posted on the club’s Web site with the idea that dumping might be deterred if people know these activities are being monitored.
Watanabe spearheaded the 1990s campaign to designate Fuji as a World Heritage site, and the efforts of the Fujisan Club continue that pursuit. Through the sister mountains program, launched in 2003, the club has linked with the national parks of Mount Rainier in the United States, Mount Ngauruhoe in New Zealand, and Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia. The Ngauruhoe and Kinabalu parks are both on the World Heritage list, and Rainier is known for its well-preserved environment. Beyond building public awareness, Watanabe hopes that his group will be able to learn from the management practices of these national parks and help the Japanese government apply them to Mount Fuji, ultimately enabling the mountain to obtain World Heritage site protection.
The Japanese government is taking new steps to clean up Mount Fuji’s human waste-management problem. With the launch of the 2004 climbing season, incinerator-type toilets will go into use at Fuji’s summit. These toilets will convert a large volume of human waste into a small quantity of ash—about 25 grams for every thousand people—which can then be easily disposed of. There are also plans to install more bio-toilets. Both toilets require a small fee for use, which helps fund upkeep. Observers say the new toilets will boost Mount Fuji’s bid for World Heritage site recognition.
While eliminating the threat of volcanic eruption is outside human control, scientists and government authorities are taking steps to mitigate the potential effects of such a disaster. Teams of earthquake experts and volcanologists have conducted tests—including detonating explosions below Fuji’s surface—to map the volcano’s internal structure and determine the paths that magma might take if an eruption occurs. Based on current research, as well as data from the 1707 eruption, experts have been able to create potential hazard maps, and local governments are using this information to develop detailed evacuation and emergency response plans.
What You Can Do
If you visit Mount Fuji, lend your help to the clean-up efforts: pick up any trash you see and use only the environment-friendly toilets. There are currently no active international campaigns for Mount Fuji, but check back here periodically for updates.
http://www.sacredland.org/world_sites_pages/Fuji.html
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