Fuji: A Mountain in the Making

by Andrew W. Bernstein

Overview

A panoramic biography of Japan’s iconic mountain from the Ice Age to the present

Mount Fuji is everywhere recognized as a wonder of nature and enduring symbol of Japan. Yet behind the picture-postcard image is a history filled with conflict and upheaval. Violent eruptions across the centuries wrought havoc and instilled fear. Long an object of worship, Fuji has been inhabited by deities that changed radically over time. It has been both a totem of national unity and a flashpoint for economic and political disputes. And while its soaring majesty has inspired countless works of literature and art, the foot of the mountain is home to military training grounds and polluting industries. Tracing the history of Fuji from its geological origins in the remote past to its recent inscription as a World Heritage Site, Andrew Bernstein explores these and other contradictions in the story of the mountain, inviting us to reflect on the relationships we share with the nonhuman world and one another.

Beautifully illustrated, Fuji presents a rich portrait of one of the world’s most celebrated sites, revealing a mountain forever in the making and offering a meditation on the ability of landscape both to challenge and inspire.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691256290
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	09/23/2025
Series:	Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 6.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Andrew W. Bernstein is professor of history at Lewis & Clark College and the author of Modern Passings: Death Rites, Politics, and Social Change in Imperial Japan.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“A historical tour de force, this biography of Japan’s most famous mountain begins in distant geological times, moves across centuries of change in religious, economic, military, ideological, and environmental factors, and ends its admirably transdisciplinary account at the edge of the future. Kaleidoscopic, informative, beguiling, its essay-like chapters are also a pleasure to read.”—Carol Gluck, author of Japan’s Modern Myths: Ideology in the Late Meiji Period

“Can a mountain dance through time? Bernstein’s marvelous book shows us that it can. He turns the age-old icon of Fuji into a vibrant participant in Japan’s long history.”—Julia Adeney Thomas, coauthor of The Anthropocene: A Multidisciplinary Approach

“This lavishly illustrated, multifaceted survey of Mount Fuji blends together wide-ranging historical, art historical, religious, social, economic, geological, and ecological perspectives. It balances a history of how the mountain and its environment changed with the story of how people envisioned it, worshipped it, exploited it, and climbed it, from the earliest records to the present when it is now a world heritage site. Written with verve and some humor in a style accessible to students and general readers, it is a tour de force of serious scholarship.”—Anne Walthall, University of California, Irvine, and author of In the Presence of Gods and Spirits: Hirata Atsutane and His Collaborators

“Andrew Bernstein has written an unusually comprehensive history of Mount Fuji. His scholarly engagement is wide-ranging, treating the reader to a remarkable array of approaches—from earth science and economics to poetry, art, and religion. The fruit of many years’ research, Fuji offers penetrating perspectives on a sacred volcano’s convulsive life.”—Kären Wigen, author of A Malleable Map: Geographies of Restoration in Central Japan, 1600–1912

Editorial Reviews

"An encyclopedic analysis of a national icon."

Kirkus Reviews

"Bernstein’s perspective on the intersection of geography and culture is illuminating, and the text is richly supplemented with maps and images. [Fuji] will resonate with those who have a deep interest in Japanese history."

Publishers Weekly

"Although readers may know the name of the highest mountain in Japan, few will be familiar with the comprehensive and illuminating history of Mount Fuji that historian Bernstein provides in this awe-inspiring account. . . . [Fuji] brings the majesty and mystery of Mount Fuji to readers."

Booklist

2025-07-18
A biography of a mountain.

Bernstein, a professor of history at Lewis & Clark College and author ofModern Passings; Death Rites, Politics, and Social Change in Imperial Japan, occasionally steps back to deliver the big picture, but this is overwhelmingly the history of a volcano. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2013, Fuji is depicted as peaceful and timeless. “It is one of Japan’s most prominent symbols of national unity, yet its history is full of economic, political, and ideological conflict.” While this is accurate, those unfamiliar with Japanese history would do well to brush up because Bernstein keeps his focus on the mountain; religion, art, and poetry take precedence over politics, and readers may be daunted by a stream of unfamiliar names. The current Fuji took shape around 17,000 years ago. Thus it did not precede humans but grew up among them. It erupted now and then, disastrously in 1707, but has gone quiet for the past few hundred years. From prehistory, humans settled nearby and grew crops—especially tea and mulberry trees for silk—that thrived on the volcanic soil. The volcano’s beauty as well as its behavior attracted attention both mystical and literary. An 18th-century mystic who starved himself to death on Fuji gave rise to a cult, “Fujiko,” devoted to its worship that included a pilgrimage to the summit, which in turn gave rise to a major local industry. Fujiko adopted many Buddhist practices and competed with the more nationalistic Shinto movement. Much of the book details the legal, doctrinal, and organizational quarrels between the three religions. Fujiko did not do well and is now a fringe movement, but almost all religious ceremonies surrounding Fuji evaporated after World War II. The mountain is now a major tourist attraction, fueling quarrels over trash, sanitation, crowds, and the deteriorating environment.

An encyclopedic analysis of a national icon.

Kirkus Reviews