September 4: Three Views of Mt. Fuji

On 4 September 2003, twenty two year old Keegan Reilly became the first paraplegic to scale Japan’s Mt. Fuji.

Reilly had lost the use of his legs in a car accident and, at the time of his climb, was a student at the University of Oregon. He had used a custom built titanium climbing bike to scale the 12,385 foot mountain. The bike had 42 gears and disc brakes. The accent took him four days. Details of the climb are recounted in “Paraplegic Scales Mt. Fuji.”

Mt. Fuji (富士山) is the highest mountain in Japan. It is located on Honshu Island about 60 miles from Tokyo. Along with Mt. Tate and Mt. Haku, Mt. Fuji is one of Japan’s Three Holy Mountains (三霊山) and known for its scenic views.

Between 1826 and 1833, Katsushika Hokusai did a series of wood block prints celebrating the beauty of Mt. Fugi. Originally published as 36 Views of Mt. Fuji (富嶽三十六景), ten additional prints were added in future publications. These prints were in the tradition of ukiyo-e (浮世絵) which translates to “pictures of the floating world.” The Floating World of Ukiyo-e: Shadows, Dreams, and Substance is an on-line exhibit created by the Library of Congress.
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Cathy N. Davidson was inspired by Hokusai when she wrote 36 Views of Mt. Fuji: Finding Myself in Japan (1994). Davidson had traveled to Japan in 1980 to teach English at an all women’s university near Kobe. Because this was part of a “Friendship Exchange,” a Japanese professor came to Michigan State University—where Davidson was teaching—during the time she was in Japan. In an interview, Davidson explains that she wrote 36 Views of Mt. Fuji “after several years of experience with the country and approximately three full years living there, but I tried to recover the point of view of the first-time visitor and to give my readers that experience of visiting a new country and growing to understand and love it.”

–Steven L. Berg, PhD

Photo Caption: Keegan Reilly (top), one of Katsushika Hokusai’s views of Mt. Fuji (middle), Cathy N. Davidson (bottom)

 

Posted on by stevenlberg
Categories: World History: Modern
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3 Responses

  1. Corey Kelly says:
    10 September 2012 at 6:35 pm

    Amelia Hempleman-Adams, daughter of the British adventurer, David Hempleman-Adams, was only nine years old her father took her on a family holiday to Japan to climb Mt. Fuji. But her trek to the top of the mountain was nothing compared to her journey to the South Pole. Being only sixteen when she started her expedition makes her the youngest person to have ever reached the South Pole on skis. Amelia isn’t the only record breaker in the family though. Her father, David, holds a total of 47 different Federation Aeronautiqe International World Records. One of them being the first person to fly a balloon over the North Pole.

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  2. Haley Hilt says:
    16 September 2012 at 12:04 pm

    Wood block prints have been in Japan for centuries. The 36 views from Mt. Fuji have been the most knowledgeable pieces in this type of art. When wood block prints came to be they were only used in China for printing paper during the Edo period and were adapted by the Japanese at the end of this period. These works of art that the Japanese have done, have created colorful works in this art, that tell different stories.

    Now to this day wood block prints, are still used to create masterpieces. Most artist including Jed Henry who is a professional illustrator uses this method of drawing/painting to create his stories before he publishes his works. Wood block prints make every story come to life, the colors the techniques. For artist to use these techniques to this day Japan artist made a great impression on the art community.

    Haley Hilt

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  3. Matthew Brooks says:
    9 December 2012 at 9:53 pm

    When i was younger i moved to South Korea in 1997 when i was 5 and during that time my family and i would take vacation to Japan every so often and one time when we went to Japan we actually had a chance to go to mt Fuji. While on the way there we met some people who where going to try and climb mt Fuji. They told us how it had been there dream to climb the mountain since they where young and they where local to the area so they saw many people going up that way to try and climb the mountain and they knew it might be them one day to try and climb it.

    Reply

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