This week it was Mountain Day in Japan – a national holiday dedicated to some of Japan’s most impressive natural features.
Of course the most impressive of these has to be the famous 富士山Mount Fuji.
The kanji for the tallest and most famous mountain in Japan are suitably distinguished:
富 = riches, wealth, fortune
士 = gentleman, scholar
However there is a theory that the above kanji are ateji (kanji which are used to phonetically represent other words) for 不 and 死.
不 = un, not
死 = death
In other words, Mount Fuji is the “Undying Mountain”.
Whether it’s a wealthy gentleman or an undying mountain, the importance of Mount Fuji on Japanese culture is immense.
British author Terry Pratchett sums it up beautifully:
“Mt. Fuji appears so often in Japanese prints. Sometimes it’s big and up close. Sometimes it’s a shape on the horizon. Sometimes it’s not there at all, which means that the artist either has made a deliberate decision against the mountain, which is interesting in itself, or is in fact standing on Mt. Fuji.”
Calligraphy by Vicky 