japanese art, design and culture

Just like there are many categories of photographers – nature, portrait, street – so too exist a microcosm of Mt. Fuji photographers, each who have carved out a niche for themselves after what is presumably many years of photographic study directed at Fuji. The subcategories are as diverse as its subject matter: a mountain, yes. But so much more than just a mountain. Here are some of them:

Koichi Shimano | Mt. Fuji with clouds

Mt. Fuji with clouds is known, amongst a select few, as Kumofuji (雲富士). “Mt. Fuji remains the same yet the clouds and light are continuously changing,” says Koichi Shimano. “Every time I look at it I see something new, which is why I continue to photograph Kumofuji.

photos by Koichi Shimano | click to enlarge

Mt. Fuji from afar

Close-ups are always nice. But there is a distinct group of photographers who find pure joy in the challenge of photographing Mt. Fuji from far, far away. Here are some of the farthest possible locations to shoot Mt. Fuji.

Mt. Fuji from Fukushima prefecture (299km away) | photo by Kazuo Suzuki

Mt. Fuji from Hachijojima (271km away) | Photo by Hiroshi Yoshino

Mt. Fuji from Irokawafujimigake in Wakayama (323km away) | Photo by Koji Kiyomoto, Masaru Naka

Mt. Fuji from Zushi Port Tower in Chiba (198km away)

Mt. Fuji from a space shuttle (374 km away) | photo courtesy NASA

Mt. Fuji from the city

For those who love city life (and see no reason to leave), photographing Mt. Fuji behind a landscape of office buildings and high-rises is just the thing.

Photo taken from St. Luke’s Garden Tower in Tokyo | via

Photo taken from Tokyo high-rise apartment building | via

Mt. Fuji Framed

Everything looks better in a frame. Or at least that’s what “tunnel Fuji” photographers will tell you. This select breed enjoys seeing Mt. Fuji through tunnels, sculptures, gates and other man-made objects. The thrill is not so much rooted in the mountain itself, but in a physical location irreplicable anywhere else.

photos via

Fujimieki | the fine art of Fuji-spotting

Combine trainspotting with a love for Mt. Fuji and you’ve got Fujimieki, or train stations where you can see Mt. Fuji. The term also applies to spotting Mt. Fuji from trains. Did you know that there are 678 train stations where you can see Mt. Fuji from? It’s true. In fact, there is a website (JP) dedicated to archiving photos and their trains stations.

This is part of a series of posts on Mt. Fuji. The entire series can be found HERE.

10,000 feet above sea – five months straight – four years in a row. For 600 days Yu Yamauchi lived in a hut near the summit of Mt. Fuji, getting up while it was still dark to photograph the sunrise every day, from the same location. The resulting series, titled “DAWN,” is a stunning look at the colorful, sometimes abstract view of Earth waking up.

This space, “above the clouds,” exists far from the ground where we live our daily lives. It is also a space between the earth and the universe. Being there simply reminds me of the fact that we live on the earth which is a planet within an infinite space of the universe.

What’s perhaps most striking about the series is the variability. Not a single picture looks the same. And yet, each day the sun, rising from the same spot, repeats itself.

This post originally appeared October, 2012. It is part of a series of posts on Mt. Fuji. The entire series can be found HERE.

Until 1868 women weren’t allowed to climb Mt. Fuji

According to legend, Mt. Fuji used to be the abode of a fire goddess who would be jealous of any other woman in the vicinity.

A 1000 yen view

Mt. Fuji, as it appears on Japan’s 1000 yen note, is a view from Lake Motosu and is based on a photograph by Koyo Okada, in which he captured Mt. Fuji’s upside down reflection in the lake.

During WWII there was a plan to paint Mt. Fuji red

Although this is somewhat of a rumor, during WWII the CIA briefly considered dropping buckets of red paint on Mt. Fuji as a form of psychological warfare to degrade Japan’s morale. However, a more thorough analysis revealed that it would require 12 tons of paint and roughly 30,000 B29 planes to carry all the paint and the plan was quickly dropped.

Red Fuji by Katsushika Hokusai (1831)

The summit of Mt Fuji is not in any prefecture.

Although the mountain itself sits on the boundary between Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures, a 1974 Supreme Court ruling stated that all land above station 8 (roughly 400 m2) belongs to a sacred shrine.

In 2008 a Mt. Fuji license plate was released

Due to popular demand, and in an attempt to stimulate the local economy, Shizuoka prefecture created a Mt. Fuji license plate in 2008. It’s available in 6 different districts and has become a collectable for Mt. Fuji aficionados.

Novel transforms Mt. Fuji forest into a hotbed for suicides

Seicho Matsumoto’s 1960 novel “Tower of Waves” (波の塔) detailed the love affair of a woman and prosecutor up until their untimely death at the end when they commit suicide in Aokigahara forest. The deep “sea of trees” had long been associated with spirits but in 1974 a women hung herself with the book, kicking off a sad and terrible spree.

Here’s a good 20-minute documentary about a man who walks the forest trying to prevent people from taking their lives.

There were once plans to build a high speed tunnel to the summit of Mt Fuji

In the 1960s Fuji Kyuko had plans to bore a tunnel through the south-west side of the mountain with a cable car that would take you to the summit in just under 13 minutes. Although the plan was shot down by conservationists, they did have a catchy slogan: to the summit of Mt. Fuji and back in heels.

Little did they know that more than 50 years later Teva would release stiletto high heels for hiking.

Debussy’s La Mer (the sea) was inspired by Mt. Fuji

Claude Debussy’s brilliant orchestral work, La Mer, is so free of traditions and influences that its modernity can still be felt today. Equally timeless was its inspiration, which is said to have come from the compelling force of the contrast between the wave and the mountain in Katsushika Hokusai’s The Great Wave at Kanagawa.

This is a series of posts on Mt. Fuji. All posts can be found HERE.

Mt. Fuji seen from above | photo by Flickr user Toshi_KMR

Surrounded by blue sky, topped with white snow and standing at 3776 meters, Mt. Fuji is perhaps the single most revered national landmark of Japan. Over 300K people climb Japan’s highest peak each year. I did it with my Mom many years ago and will adhere to the oft-quoted saying – a wise man climbs Mount Fuji once in his life; only a fool climbs it twice.

But that doesn’t mean I don’t continue to look. The many faces of Mt. Fuji have not only inspired climbers, but photographers, painters, sculptors and musicians. There are even Mt. Fuji otaku who hastily snap their cameras at the sight of the mountain out of train windows.

And now the United Nations cultural organization UNESCO is set to approve Mt. Fuji as a World Heritage site when it meets in June. To commemorate this official global recognition, we’re running a week-long series of posts JUST on Mt. Fuji! Here are a few Mt. Fuji basics to get us in the mood.

Katsushika Hokusai’s iconic woodblock print “The Great Wave at Kanagawa” (1830 -33)

Q&A

Q: Can I make a day trip out of climbing Mt. Fuji?
A: Absolutely. There are several different routes with varying difficulties/lengths but each should get you to the top and back in a single day. The shortest Fujinomiya Route will get you from station 5 to the summit in roughly 5 hours. But beware – during peak season this is also the most crowded route.

Q: When can I make the climb
A: Any day of the year you wish. However, official climbing season is July and August. This means that weather will be more favorable but congestion will not.

Q: What do I need to bring?
A: There can be dramatic swings in temperature so be sure to dress in layers. A waterproof windbreaker on top is also a good idea. If you’re going to be climbing in the dark to see the sunrise you’ll want a head lamp so you can keep both hands free. Hat, backpack, gloves and shoes that offer plenty of support are also a given. Most supplies like water will be available as you climb but be prepared to pay a hefty premium.

Q: So what’s the deal with the huts?
A: Huts along the way (mostly between station 5 -8) provide meals and lodging for those looking to stay overnight and then continue to the summit early in the morning for the sunrise. Some huts take walk-ins but to play it safe you’ll want to make a reservation. Rates are between 7000 – 9000 yen and include meals. Here is a list of huts and their phone numbers.

The Routes

Subashira Route
- Distance: 14km
- Time: 6 hours going up, 3 hours coming down
- Perhaps the least crowded route and the only route to take you through the forested areas of Mt. Fuji.

Yoshida Route
- Distance: 15.1km
- Time: 5.5 hours going up, 3 hours coming down
- The most popular of routes. A large parking lot accommodates tour buses and people arriving by car.

Fujinomiya Route
- Distance: 10km
- Time: 5 hours going up, 2.5 hours coming down
- If you’re not planning on spending the night, this is the route for you. It’s the fastest route but you also take the same path down (most route have alternate descending routes) so you may have to play a little dodge ball.

Gotenba Route
- Distance: 19.5km
- Time: 7.5 hours going up, 3 hours coming down
- The most difficult and time-consuming of all routes. It requires more planning as there are no huts or supply stores for a large part of the hike.

This is a series of posts on Mt. Fuji. All posts can be found HERE.

This is a series of posts on Mt. Fuji. All posts can be found HERE.

Photos by Yasuko Furukawa | click to enlarge

Was there an earthquake? Or did time suddenly stop moving? Masters of the optical illusion, Tokyo-based YOY studio have designed SWING – a pendant lamp that, well, appears to swing. The trick is really quite simple. An LED light source is used to illuminate the bulb and an acrylic tube that represents the trace of light. It comes in 3 different sizes depending on how much you want your room to appear to sway.

Check out some of YOY’s other designs that will make you say, huh?

We’ve all done it before – you come home to find that your flowers have wilted because you’ve forgotten to add water to the vase. Well a new harmonious design is giving voice to the “unspeakable flower.”

Designed by Risako Matsumoto, a member of the collaborative design unit Design Soil, Water Balance is almost like a kinetic sculpture. An adjustable weight creates perfect equilibrium between the flower vase filled with water and the weight. When water begins to evaporate, the structure slants to become the “silent voice of the flower.”

Here are some other unique flower vases that the group has done in the past.

Source: THEmag | Notcot

My friend and illustrator Naho Ogawa is releasing her first children’s book. Actually, she’s releasing not one, not two, but three, all at once. I’m not sure how she found the time in-between the never-ending requests for editorial illustrations, but it’s happening – on June 5th. The series follows 2 girls, Mimi and Nana, into their imaginative wonderland.

And yes, the books are sure to be as adorable is this little gif that Naho created!

all images courtesy AxisMagazine

Multidisciplinary designer Makoto Koizumi’s portfolio ranges from the very small (chopstick rests and tea kettles) to the very large (residential architecture projects and interior design). And ever since he established his own studio in 1990 he’s approached each project with the same emphasis on tradition and craft. In 2003 he opened his first shop in Kunitachi – a western suburb of Tokyo. But while walking through his neighborhood Koizumi discovered an old shoe shop that had closed down. Having outgrown his current location – just 45 seconds away – he decided to renovate it and move in.

Fast-forward to April 2013, the new Makoto Koizumi shop opened for business and is selling tableware, utensils and other small necessities. His older space is now a dedicated showroom for larger pieces of furniture. Reiko Imamura and AxisMagazine recently visited his shop and put together a wonderful report (JP).

Koizumi Dougu ten
2-2-31 Fujimidai, Kunitachi shi, Tokyo (Gmap)
Tel: 042-574-1464
Hours：3:00pm – 6:00pm

Love the look of your keyboard? Keep it clean and dust-free with Type Wipe, an elegantly designed cover that blends in with your laptop. Designed by Nosigner, it comes in 5 colors and retails for about $18.

For the 2nd year in a row, Loftwork and FabCafe are hosting their You Fab laser cutter competition. If you’ll recall, last year there were some really great submissions.

This year you can submit entries in 3 categories: Toys, Greeting Cards or Party Wear.

Anything goes, as long as it can be engraved or cut using a laser cutter and you can submit entries starting today through July 15th.  There’s a lot at stake including cash prizes and a chance to have your idea sold at FabCafe.

I’ve been asked to judge this year’s competition, along with Nosigner and others. You can read more about the competition and how to submit entries! Looking forward to seeing your designs!