[Mt.Fuji] A Living Mountain

Mt.Fuji■A Living Mountain

Japan’s greatest mountain was born out of eruption after eruption, growing ever larger,
ever more beautiful, and teeming with life.

The Birth of Mt. Fuji
Mt. Fuji is a mountain that has grown with the accumulations of lava flow over and repeated eruptions in the vicinity of the same volcanic crater. This was long thought to have taken place over three stages, called ‘Komitake’, ‘Old Fuji’, and ‘New Fuji’, but explorations beneath Komitake in 2004 revealed the existence of a fourth, ‘Proto-Komitake’ stage, and investigations are continuing. It is thought that eruptions from this Proto-Komitake formed Komitake several hundred thousand years ago. An eruption from the flank of Komitake some 100,000 years ago is thought to have formed Old Fuji, a peak that grew through subsequent volcanic bursts to some 2,700 meters in height before enormous lava flows covered both Komitake and Old Fuji, giving rise to the mountain as it exists today. The present Mt. Fuji is thought to date back some 10,000 years, and is still considered to be active.