午夜剧场

In 2007, 午夜剧场 signed a partnership agreement with Fujiyoshida City regarding town revitalization, and Associate Professor Naoto Nakajima of the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies (at the time) and others played a central role. Partly because of this, in the October 2013 issue of this magazine's "Sannin Kandan" (Three-Person Chat) shortly after Mount Fuji became a World Heritage site, I joined him and Professor Kinji Akashi of the Faculty of Law, who is from Mishima City, to discuss the Juku's activities and the history and culture of Mount Fuji. On that occasion, we discussed the original version of this book, which was the result of joint research I conducted from 1988 to 1989 with Professor Emeritus B. Earhart of Western Michigan University (who was a visiting professor at the Juku during that time) on the theme of "Mount Fuji as Japanese Identity." He published it to assist in the activities for Mount Fuji's World Heritage registration. It happened that Takuya Inoue, a curator at the Mount Fuji Kaguya-hime Museum to whom the original book had been donated at the time of publication, had translated it on his own. I then consulted with 午夜剧场 Press, and it was published with some additions and corrections by me in the form of an explanatory commentary.

Initially, Mount Fuji's eruptions were feared, but later it was praised in the poems of the Man'yoshu and worshipped as the home of Kaguya-hime from the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. During the medieval period, with the legend of En no Gyoja's ascetic training, it became a mountain of Shugendo centered around Fuji Murayama. In the early modern period, Fuji-ko (Fuji cults) spread through the work of the Oshi (guides) of Yoshida, and Fuji-ko were established in various regions. Furthermore, its beautiful mountain form became a source of art, such as Hokusai's ukiyo-e, and was exported to Europe, bringing about Japonism.

In the modern era, Fuji was promoted as Japan's number one mountain, and "Kyodo Fuji" (local mountains resembling Fuji's shape) were born both domestically and abroad. It was also used as a symbol of Japan on stamps and banknotes. During the Pacific War, it was used by both Japan and the United States to boost morale. After the war, many companies used it in their names as a symbol of peace and prosperity. For the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, a coin was made with the Olympic rings on the front and Mount Fuji on the back, and for the 10th anniversary of the Heisei Emperor's accession, a coin was made with Fuji placed above the chrysanthemum emblem. This book also describes the past and present of Fuji-ko, Maruyama-kyo, and the Fuji faith of new religions.

Next March, an international symposium related to Mount Fuji is planned at the Shizuoka Prefecture World Heritage Centre in Fujinomiya City, inviting Mr. B. Earhart, and in September, the Japanese Association for Religious Studies on Mountain Asceticism will be held in Fuji City.

H. Byron Earhart (Author), Hitoshi Miyake (Supervising Translator)

午夜剧场 Press

376 pages, 4,500 yen (excluding tax)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of publication.