Mount Fuji, at 3,776 m the highest mountain in Japan, has inspired artists for centuries, and Hidenobu Suzuki adds his own palette to that tradition. His photographs set the snow-capped cone among pink skies, bare trees and still water, so the reflection becomes a second mountain.
Hidenobu Suzuki’s Mount Fuji photographs
Suzuki photographs Japan’s landscapes in vivid, saturated colour. “Emotionally, I try to express my mental landscape,” he told LensCulture, describing his world as “like a fairy tale”. Alongside Fuji he photographs places such as the Arashiyama bamboo forest in Kyoto at five in the morning and the Wedded Rocks at Futami.
One of his Fuji images became a National Geographic Photo of the Day on 21 July 2014. Submitted through the magazine’s Your Shot community, it shows the mountain looming over Fujinomiya, seen from the Asagiri Kogen plateau, after a heavy rainstorm. “When I took the photos in a breathless silence, I had a strong feeling that the Earth was alive and had a soul,” Suzuki wrote.
Mount Fuji facts: height, volcano and UNESCO status
- Height: 3,776.24 m (12,389 ft), Japan’s highest peak.
- Location: on Honshu, straddling Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures, about 100 km south-west of Tokyo.
- Volcano: an active volcano whose last eruption, the Hōei eruption, began on 16 December 1707.
- World Heritage: inscribed by UNESCO on 22 June 2013 as “Fujisan, sacred place and source of artistic inspiration”, a cultural site that recognises its role in Japanese art and religion.
Where to see and photograph Mount Fuji
The Fuji Five Lakes at the foot of the mountain are popular places for reflections like those in Suzuki’s pictures: Kawaguchi, Yamanaka, Sai, Motosu and Shōji. Still water at dawn or dusk gives the cleanest mirror image. South-west of the peak, the city of Fujinomiya and the Asagiri Kogen plateau offer the wide view of Suzuki’s National Geographic picture, with the mountain rising directly above the land.
Weather decides everything: check the forecast and be ready to go out early, since a clear sky is what turns the cone into a subject.
Climbing Mount Fuji
The climbing season runs in July and August, when buses to the trailheads start, usually from 1 July. Four routes lead to the summit, the 10th station of each: Yoshida, the most popular, plus Subashiri, Gotemba and Fujinomiya, whose fifth station is the highest starting point of the four. Climbing between October and May is strongly discouraged.
Explore more: Biei’s Blue Pond; Patrick Hübschmann’s frosted Rhine photographs.
Related reading:
- Tateyama’s Snow Corridor and the Alpine Route
- Japanese Snow Monkeys Bathing in Hot Springs
- Hitachi Seaside Park: Nemophila on Miharashi Hill
- Japan’s Former Gulliver’s Kingdom: A Theme-Park Photo Collection
- Takachiho Gorge: Rock Columns, Manai Falls and the Gokase River
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