Mt Fuji. You bitch.
This past weekend, I took advantage of the fact that I was in Japan and climbed Mt. Fuji, which people around here call Fujisan.
For those of you who know a little about Japanese, you might think that this was akin to calling it Mr. Fuji, or at least giving it a term of respect. You'd be wrong, actually--san is just another way of saying mountain. Most kanji, or Chinese characters, have at least two pronounciations in Japanese. One is called the on-yomi, or the "sort of Chinese" pronounciation, and the other is called the kun-yomi, or "here's the Japanese word by itself" reading. So, the character 山 can be read in two (if not more that I'm forgetting) ways. The kun-yomi, or the way you just say "mountain" in Japanese, is "yama". But when you combine two kanji, usually the on-yomi is used--thus, 富士山 is pronounced "fujisan".
People here make this trip all the time. It's a very popular mountain to climb.
I don't know why, honestly.
My experience climbing this mountain was complaint-worthy. We started the climb at midnight, so we could be at the top for the sunrise (it's a 5-6 hour hike). That was fine, of course; I'm always up for a night-time adventure. I slept most of the day on Saturday so as to be ready for my all-night excursion. The first part of the climb was fine--not too crowded, and my host parents were talking a lot, because it wasn't too strenuous. By the time we got to the eighth stage (Japanese mountains are divided into 10 stages, dividing the mountain into about equal parts. You start climbing Mt. Fuji at the fifth stage), my host mother decided to give up because she hadn't slept all day.
Probably the driving rain that stung as it struck your face and the wind that literally toppled me numerous times had something to do with her giving up, too.
My host father, Akira-san (and that is a term of respect), kiddingly asked if I wanted to give up too, and I almost said yes. My legs were tired. I had a bad headache. The wind, frankly, scared me; there are lots of places it would be a terrible idea to fall from. But we continued.
Akira-san doesn't believe in taking breaks. So we constantly passed other groups who were sitting by the side of the trail, resting their legs, while we plodded on, slow and steady. It was probably better that we did it this way, because if I'd had the occasion to stop more than once or twice, I probably wouldn't have gone on. I tried to quit at one point, but my host father couldn't hear my voice over the wind. When we reached the ninth stage, I thought we were at the peak because we'd been traveling so long. Nope.
Finally, finally, we got to the top. The sun had already risen, but that was okay; it was still beautiful. The view was worth the climb.
You can see how crowded the climb is. People love torture, I suppose.
The way down was hard, too, although not as hard. Three hours without stopping, on a very steep angle, of very loose scree. My knee joints hurt for two days afterwards.
Afterwards, though, we went to an onsen (hot spring), and that was definitely the best idea ever.
All in all, I'm glad I went. But as my host father says, "Mt. Fuji is not a fun mountain to climb. The only reason you climb it is for the memories and so you can tell your friends."
True that, Akira-san.
For those of you who know a little about Japanese, you might think that this was akin to calling it Mr. Fuji, or at least giving it a term of respect. You'd be wrong, actually--san is just another way of saying mountain. Most kanji, or Chinese characters, have at least two pronounciations in Japanese. One is called the on-yomi, or the "sort of Chinese" pronounciation, and the other is called the kun-yomi, or "here's the Japanese word by itself" reading. So, the character 山 can be read in two (if not more that I'm forgetting) ways. The kun-yomi, or the way you just say "mountain" in Japanese, is "yama". But when you combine two kanji, usually the on-yomi is used--thus, 富士山 is pronounced "fujisan".
People here make this trip all the time. It's a very popular mountain to climb.
I don't know why, honestly.
My experience climbing this mountain was complaint-worthy. We started the climb at midnight, so we could be at the top for the sunrise (it's a 5-6 hour hike). That was fine, of course; I'm always up for a night-time adventure. I slept most of the day on Saturday so as to be ready for my all-night excursion. The first part of the climb was fine--not too crowded, and my host parents were talking a lot, because it wasn't too strenuous. By the time we got to the eighth stage (Japanese mountains are divided into 10 stages, dividing the mountain into about equal parts. You start climbing Mt. Fuji at the fifth stage), my host mother decided to give up because she hadn't slept all day.
Probably the driving rain that stung as it struck your face and the wind that literally toppled me numerous times had something to do with her giving up, too.
My host father, Akira-san (and that is a term of respect), kiddingly asked if I wanted to give up too, and I almost said yes. My legs were tired. I had a bad headache. The wind, frankly, scared me; there are lots of places it would be a terrible idea to fall from. But we continued.
Akira-san doesn't believe in taking breaks. So we constantly passed other groups who were sitting by the side of the trail, resting their legs, while we plodded on, slow and steady. It was probably better that we did it this way, because if I'd had the occasion to stop more than once or twice, I probably wouldn't have gone on. I tried to quit at one point, but my host father couldn't hear my voice over the wind. When we reached the ninth stage, I thought we were at the peak because we'd been traveling so long. Nope.
Finally, finally, we got to the top. The sun had already risen, but that was okay; it was still beautiful. The view was worth the climb.
You can see how crowded the climb is. People love torture, I suppose.
The way down was hard, too, although not as hard. Three hours without stopping, on a very steep angle, of very loose scree. My knee joints hurt for two days afterwards.
Afterwards, though, we went to an onsen (hot spring), and that was definitely the best idea ever.
All in all, I'm glad I went. But as my host father says, "Mt. Fuji is not a fun mountain to climb. The only reason you climb it is for the memories and so you can tell your friends."
True that, Akira-san.
posted by Bridget Lough at
2:15 AM
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