Mount Fuji Becoming A Popular Attraction To Foreigners

Above, a view of Mt. Fuji from a passing shinkansen. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The closest I've ever come to climbing Mount Fuji in Japan was to take a bus tour to one of the Fifth Stations in 2004 with G-TOUR. 

However, others have taken to the slopes to, hopefully, get a spectacular view of the rising sun.

Japan Today has reported that a record number of foreign visitors to Japan have hiked to the summit.

They wrote:

NAGANO, Japan —Mt Fuji is increasingly becoming a popular destination for foreign tourists amid a record-breaking number of people visiting Japan from abroad. 

The 3,776-meter volcano, which straddles Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures, was added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2013 as an “object of worship” and “wellspring of art.” 

Some 200,000 people climb Mt Fuji each year via the Yoshida Trail that leads to the summit of the tallest mountain in Japan from its north side in Yamanashi. Foreign visitors account for some 30% of those trekkers on weekdays and 20% on weekends, according to an Environment Ministry survey conducted in August last year.

To read more, go here. 

Monk Burns Down Golden Pavilion

Above,  the Kinkaku-ji "Golden Pavilion."  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

One of the places in Japan I've always wanted to see was Kinkaku-ji, more popularly known as "The Golden Pavilion," in Kyoto.  Kinkaku-ji is a UN World Heritage Site.

I got my chance when it was included in the 2004 G-Tour.  When we got there, I was not disappointed.  The temple was a sight to behold.

Most people are unaware that the present structure is only about 60 years old.  The original structure was burnt down on July 2, 1959 by a schizophrenic monk named Hayashi Yoken.  It was rebuilt with thicker gold leaf covering.

Tofugu.com has posted the story on the burning of Kinkaku-ji.  To read it (it includes a photo of the burned structure), go here.