The Japanese belief in mountains holds that Mt. Fuji is a sacred place and cannot be entered by the public. People with mountain beliefs preside over the opening ceremony of the mountain on June 1 of the lunar calendar every year, after which the general public can only go up the mountain. If people sneak into the mountains outside the mountain during the opening period, they may be attacked by tengu.
For the ancient Japanese, Mt. Fuji was a terrifying volcano, and the eruption of Mt. Fuji would cause disaster. Therefore, the ancient people regarded Mt. Fuji as a sacred mountain and formed the mountain belief.
Mountain belief is the belief in worshiping mountain gods. The most direct way to worship the mountain god is to climb the mountain and pay homage to the mountain. The Japanese call this act of climbing a mountain to show respect for the mountain "worship."
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Japanese mountain beliefs
In the mountaineering legend of Mt. Fuji, both Prince Shengde and The Ancestor of Shudo climbed Mt. Fuji. But this is all legend, and it is a legend with religious mythology.
Since the Japanese in ancient times thought mt. Fuji was terrifying, those who dared to climb mt. Fuji should be quite confident. The main source of faith in the ancients was religion, so the early people who went to climb Mt. Fuji were cultivators of the mountain faith (believers in the path of cultivation were called "cultivators" or "mountain volts"). For practitioners, climbing Mt. Fuji is not only a way to worship the gods, but also a kind of practice. Since Yamafu is usually used to wading through mountains and waters, it is not surprising that he can climb to the top of Fuji Mountain.
Cultivators
In the Heian period history book "Honjo Century", it is mentioned that the last master climbed Mt. Fuji many times. The last masters were the cultivators of the mountain faith. Whether or not the contents of the Hyaku Century are true or not, at least for the people of the Heian period, Mt. Fuji is a mountain that cultivators will climb.
After climbing for a long time, some people will come up with easier routes to take the next time they climb the mountain, or try to remove obstacles on the way. As a result, there are many climbing paths on Mt. Fuji.
With the accumulation of mountaineering experience and the improvement of the environment along the trail, the difficulty of climbing the mountain has gradually become less and lower, so low that ordinary people may also climb. However, in ancient times, transportation was not convenient, and it took a lot of time to get from home to Mt. Fuji. Coupled with the underdevelopment of commerce and service industries, the food and equipment for long-distance travel must be brought from home by themselves, which is a considerable burden for the people, so not everyone has the ability to climb Mt. Fuji.
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"Fuji Talk": Solving the economic problem of climbing Mt. Fuji
In order to solve the economic problems of Dengbai Mt. Fuji, some people have established the "Fuji Lecture".
In Japan, "preaching" is the mutual aid society, and the members of the mutual aid association are called "speakers". "Fuji Talk" is a mountaineering mutual aid meeting of Mt. Fuji, where people who want to climb Mt. Fuji raise funds together to reduce the burden on everyone, and then let everyone take turns climbing Mt. Fuji.
This kind of "speaking" mutual aid meeting is one of the traditional cultures of japanese common people's life. In the past, when Japanese people went to worship Ise Jingu Shrine, they would also raise funds through the "Ise Lectures". In the mid-1960s, there were many fraudulent crimes in Japan that used members to make money, and this form of crime was commonly known as "ねずみ說" (mouse speaking).
The "Fujikami" began to appear around the time of the Edo period. Legend has it that the first person to start the "Fuji Lecture" was The Hasegawa Kakuyuki, and the Hasegawa Kakuyuki is Yamafu.
To use the analogy of the economic feeling of modern Japan, suppose that there are 100 members of a Fuji lecture, and each person pays 1,000 yen (about 56 yuan) per month to Fuji. In a year, Fuji Talk has 1.2 million yen (about 67,000 yuan) in funding. If 10 people climb Mt. Fuji a year, each person will have 120,000 yen for the road, which is a number that can travel with peace of mind.
These 100 people must be able to climb Mt. Fuji once in 10 years.
If you save 1,000 yen a month, you can save 120,000 yen after 10 years. Although saving money is the same as the cost of attending a Fuji lecture, it is easier for people who want to worship Mt. Fuji. Because everyone can exchange experience, there are companions when traveling, they can take care of each other, and the efficiency of travel will be better.
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Women were not allowed to climb in the Edo period, and women were open to climbing in the Meiji era
After the advent of the "Fuji Talk", the people of Edo became popular in climbing Mt. Fuji.
In the late Edo period, the financial situation of the Japanese shogunate was poor, and the people's lives were quite uneasy, so Fuji-kei became an organization that reassured the people to help each other, and eventually developed into a new religion. At that time, Edo was still popular in the phrase "Edo eight hundred and eight lectures, 80,000 people in the middle of the lecture". Eight hundred and eighty thousand are not real numbers, but describe the "Fuji-taught" pop spectacle.
Although the common people of the Edo period became popular in climbing Mt. Fuji, Mt. Fuji was not a mountain that could be climbed at any time.
The general public can only climb Mt. Fuji between June 1 and July 20 of the lunar calendar. At other times, only the mountain and monks can enter the mountain. This was because the mountain religion at that time believed that Mt. Fuji was a sacred place and could not be entered by the public. Mountain people preside over a religious ceremony to open the mountain on June 1 of the lunar calendar every year, after which the general public can only go up the mountain. If people sneak into the mountains outside the mountain during the opening period, they may be attacked by tengu.
In addition, the roots of Japan's mountain beliefs and shudo are very deep, and women are forbidden to enter and leave the places where they practice, so women were not allowed to climb Mt. Fuji in the Edo period and earlier.
By the Meiji era, Buddhism had lost its privileges, and the influence of The Shukōdo under Buddhism had weakened, and As a result, Mt. Fuji had been opened to women. Since the Meiji era changed the calendar to the Western calendar, the opening ceremony of Mt. Fuji was also changed to the beginning of July in the solar calendar. The general public usually chooses To climb Mt. Fuji in July and August.
Ancient people did not climb FujiZuka to satisfy their desire to climb the mountain. Fujizuka is just a small rockery, so climbing Fujizuka doesn't feel like climbing a mountain. The real meaning of Fujizuka is that the people of the Fuji faith can make pilgrimages near their homes.
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Mt. Fuji was not something you could climb if you wanted to, so Fuji Tsukasa appeared
Yamabushi
Before the Edo period, the average Japanese impression of Mt. Fuji was not a sightseeing spot, but a terrifying nature. At that time, only monks and mountain monks who could communicate with the mountain gods could enter the mountain. During the Edo period, after the "Fuji Talk" became popular, ordinary people had the opportunity to climb Mt. Fuji.
Due to the harsh traffic environment in ancient times, climbing Mt. Fuji is not a leisure and entertainment, but a religious pilgrimage. People in the Edo period believed that climbing Mount Fuji for pilgrimage would bring good luck.
However, even if you participate in the Fuji lecture, not everyone can climb Mt. Fuji. Mt. Fuji is a sacred place for mountain beliefs, and mountain beliefs cannot contact women, so previous women cannot enter areas above the 2nd station of Mt. Fuji. In addition, the elderly, people with disabilities, and children have no way to climb Mt. Fuji because their physical abilities are not as good as those of ordinary adults.
In general, even if men participate in Fuji lectures, they may not be able to climb Mt. Fuji immediately. Because Fuji has many members, it often takes years to have the opportunity to climb Mt. Fuji.
Near Mt. Fuji 8 station
In order to allow people who can't wait to experience the feeling of climbing Mt. Fuji, someone has built a simulated Mt. Fuji themselves. If you have a simulated Mt. Fuji in your village, men who can't wait, or the elderly, women, people with disabilities, or children can experience the pilgrimage of Mt. Fuji. This simulated Mt. Fuji is Fuji Tsukasa.
Chinese meaning grave. The Japanese word "tsukasa" may mean tomb on some occasions, but mounds or uplifted terrain can also be called "tsukasa". For example, the Ichirizuka and the Sanlizuka all refer to mounds and have nothing to do with graves.
Fuji Tsukasa means a hill that simulates Mt. Fuji, which is a miniature model of Mt. Fuji, which looks like a rockery in the yard of a rich man. The meaning of "mound" here is the uplifted terrain and has nothing to do with the tomb.
As long as there is the shape of a mountain, and then fuji speakers or Asama believers think that this "mountain" can be regarded as a miniature twin of Mt. Fuji, this kind of hill can be called Fuji Tsukasa.
Although Fujizuka is a miniature model of Mt. Fuji, the focus of this mini model reproduction is not "shape", but "quality".
When making Fuji Tsukasa, the members of Fuji Talk will compare the real Mt. Fuji with hiking trails and Asama Taisha Shrine.
This kind of lava stone block of Mt. Fuji is a stone that the people who used to talk about Fuji actually climbed Mt. Fuji brought back.
In the past, the traffic was not developed, and it was very difficult to move stones back to Edo from Mt. Fuji. But for the members of Fuji Talk, the lava rock blocks of Mt. Fuji are part of Mt. Fuji. Using a part of Mt. Fuji to make a Fujizuka, the atmosphere will certainly be different. When people climb to the top of Fuji Tsuka, see the main shrine, and see the real Mt. Fuji lava rocks, they will feel pilgrimage.
There is a black hat rock around the eighth station of Mt. Fuji. Legend has it that when Hasegawa Kaku climbed Mt. Fuji, he once went on a hunger strike at the place of Utsuya Rock. In the eyes of Fuji speakers, Kakuyuki Hasegawa was the one who pioneered Fujikami. Therefore, setting up a hat rock on top of Fujizuka can make Fujizuka more like Mt. Fuji.
Fujitsuka's Little Mitake shrine is a miniature version of mt. Fuji Yoshidaguchi's 5th-in-house Komigaku Shrine.
Therefore, Fujizuka recreates not the natural landscape of Mt. Fuji, but the elements of the belief in Mt. Fuji. Therefore, there will be mini Asama Taisha Shrine, mini Black Hat Rock, mini Migaku, etc. on the top of FujiZuka, and even real Mt. Fuji lava rock.
Since the Mountain Religion regards Fujizuka as a clone of Mt. Fuji, in June or July, clergy and local representatives hold a ceremony to open the mountain in the local Fujizuka.
During the Edo period, many Fuji-speaking people raised funds to build Fuji-tsuka, and there were sometimes exchanges between each Fuji-speaking speaker, so members of Fuji-spoken classes had the opportunity to visit fuji-tsukasa from other Fuji-speaking churches. It feels like a shrine worshipper, and when you see another shrine, you want to go in and worship it.
By the Meiji era, this kind of pilgrimage had reached its peak, and members of the Fuji-tsukasa would find seven famous Fujizuka pilgrimages. It feels like the Japanese go to worship the God of Seven Blessings during the New Year. In fact, the activities of visiting the seven Fuji tombs are likely to be influenced by the worship of the seven gods of fortune.
However, due to the great Kanto earthquake and the Pacific War, the population movement in Tokyo was caused by many Fuji explanations, and many Fuji tombs were destroyed. Therefore, the Fujizuka pilgrimage was not popularized, and it could only be regarded as a relatively remote religious activity.