Mount Fuji, the volcano shown in Japanese currency and art, is in Japan.
Fuji is Japan’s highest mountain, rising to 3,776 meters on Honshu, the country’s largest island. It is a stratovolcano formed above a subduction zone where the Philippine Sea Plate moves beneath neighboring tectonic plates.
The mountain’s unusually symmetrical cone has made it a major subject of Japanese visual culture. Katsushika Hokusai’s series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, created in the nineteenth century, helped give the landmark international recognition.
Fuji’s last confirmed eruption began in December 1707 and continued into early 1708. The mountain is sacred in several Japanese traditions, and pilgrims historically climbed it as an act of devotion. UNESCO designated the “Fujisan, sacred place and source of artistic inspiration” cultural site in 2013.