Station #13: Hara is considered the best vantage point for magnificent views of Mount Fuji, the highest mountain in Japan at 12,385 feet. Fuji is sacred to both the Shinto and Buddhist religions. During the Edo Period every man hoped to climb Mt. Fuji (women were forbidden at that time). Fuji is associated with immortality. One of Japan's oldest folk tales tells of a bamboo cutter who found and raised a baby girl. She was so beautiful that many, including the emperor, fell in love with her. But she was the Moon Princess and when she was recalled to the moon, she left the emperor a gift of the Elixir of Life (giving immortality). He ordered the Elixir to be burned on the top of Mt. Fuji and that is why smoke rises from Fuji's center. Here Mt. Fuji pushes through the frame of the print. The wild geese rising near the peak are a sign of autumn to the Japanese.

Image Copyright: Minneapolis Institute of Art