Fujisan, sacred place and source of artistic inspiration

Hokusai's woodblock waves made Mount Fuji a global icon, but the volcano was sacred long before it was art. Pilgrims have climbed the 3,776-metre cone for centuries, ascetic sects trained on its slopes from the 12th century, and Sengen shrines, lodging houses, lava caves, lakes and waterfalls around its base all belong to the 25-part inscription. UNESCO listed Fujisan as cultural — not natural — World Heritage in 2013, honouring a mountain worshipped and painted into Japan's identity.