富士登山の歴史を継ぐ 、「ゼロ距離の富士山写真集」制作への挑戦

 

 

 

We want to make a zero-distance photo book of Mt. Fuji, it's like you can feel volcanic debris by just touching it and feel the heartbeat of the people staying at the mountain.

 

Hi there. Thank you for visiting our page. I'm Daiki Nishikawa, a Mt. Fuji guide. I work at Mt. Fuji in the summer, I am involved in assisting in the production of artworks and I'm also the project manager in the field of culture and art.

 

In 2020, due to the spread of COVID-19, all mountain trails on Mt. Fuji were closed in the summer. We chose to move forward without stopping and started a new initiative, the online Mt. Fuji Climbing tour.

 

 

During the online tour, the photos taken by our guides and the staff of the mountain lodge played an important role.

 

Now, we would like to publish a photo book containing photos of Mt. Fuji from a zero-distance perspective, which can only be taken by mountain guides and lodge staff.

In this time of Corona, where social distancing has become the standard,

 

mountaineering styles are likely to change. I think we have realized that what we took it for granted and this is not the case anymore. It is the right moment for everyone to recall the past and think about the future of Mt. Fuji climbing. 

 

We hope that by feeling the breath of Mt. Fuji and knowing the thoughts and actions of all the people who have worked there, we can increase the number of people who want to protect Mt. Fuji.

 

We will look back in the history of Mt. Fuji climbing and create a monument that expresses our will to live with it in the future, and to send a message of encouragement to everyone who are involved in climbing Mt Fuji.

 

 

 

 

Mt. Fuji is visited by about 5 million tourists a year up to the fifth station, and by more than 200,000 climbers during the summer season. To support these visitors, there are 45 mountain lodges. There are mountain guides who belong to the lodges, a safety guidance center that handles first aid, collects information on mountain climbing, and provides weather information, horse masters who used to unload cargo for a long time but now help climbers, a medical aid station staffed with doctors, travel agencies from all over Japan, transportation facilities that connect the fifth station to the city, and the list goes on and on. Mt. Fuji is supported by the hands of so many people. In addition, many cultures and industries have developed together with Mt. Fuji Climbing.

 

 

 

In the Yoshida route 8th station Taishikan in Yamanashi Prefecture, where we belong, about 50 staff members work during day and night every summer to ensure comfortable and safe climbing, and about 40 guides belong to our organization.

 

The guide organization requires fixed costs for the communal equipment and the necessary facilities for climbing. Climbing Mt. Fuji is a seasonal job that requires only a limited amount of work during the two months of July and August in a year, so not being able to work during this period meant that we had no idea of knowing whether we would be able to cover the maintenance costs to continue our operations in the future.

 

 

More than anything else, the situation of not being able to climb or work on Mt. Fuji, which we used to do every year, has increased the sense of great loss.

 

In the midst of this situation, the guide club has taken on a new challenge: an online Mt. Fuji climbing tour that can be joined from all over the world, and so far, more than 500 people in Japan and abroad have participated in the tour.

 

In the summer of 2021, we have plans to complete the two-day tour in compliance with the official guidelines. At this stage, there are many uncertainties and concerns, but our desire and passion for climbing Mt. Fuji is unbounded, and we are preparing our lodges and guides for this season's climb. 

We believe that our online tour has been able to provide a completely new climbing experience of Mt. Fuji to those unable to climb it in real time for various reasons.

 

We hope that those who participated in the online tour will also participate in the real climbing tour this summer. (For more information on the online tour, please see the link：【Webinar】How to climb Mt. Fuji)

 

 

 

 

 

 

In these online tours, we have realized the power of photography.

 

Photographs have the power to convey the essence of a place or existence at the moment of capturing.

It can also reach across national borders without words. By capturing each of these images and turning them into a photo book, we can preserve them in a semi-permanent form that can be held in our hands and sent out to the world. We believe that this photo book will be a monumental work that will be handed down through the ages, conveying to future generations the current state of Mt. Fuji.

 

 

In ancient times, Mt. Fuji was a "mountain of worship" that was revered from afar as a mountain inhabited by the divine spirits that controlled fire. In the early Heian period (794-1185), the mountain was opened as a mountain for Shugendo (Japanese mountain asceticism), and it was transformed into a mountain for climbing, which was the beginning of climbing Mt. Fuji. Since its registration as a World Heritage Site in 2013, the number of climbers from overseas has continued to increase.

 

The environment surrounding Mt. Fuji continues to change.

 

Not only the beautiful Mt. Fuji, but also the people who maintain the mountain trails and prepare the mountain lodges to welcome climbers, we would like to send out a photo book that conveys the current situation of Mt. Fuji.

 

 

Long stretches of rocky lava fields, summits that drop below zero degree even in mid-summer, and dusty descents. The guides continue to walk the same path dozens or hundreds of times. We are always moved by the sight of the sunrise, which is never the same, and we are delighted to share the magnificent view with the clients.

 

There are the thoughts and stories of each guide who has been in contact with the mountain and its people.

 

 

For keeping the lights of Mt Fuji climbing.

 

We would like people in Japan and all over the world to know about this project. With this in mind, we have decided to take on the challenge of crowdfunding.

The success of this project is also a beacon of hope for those of us involved in Mt. Fuji, and we would be great pleasure if you could become a fan of Mt. Fuji.

 

 

 

 

We want to share, with as many people as possible, the appeal of Mt. Fuji as seen through the eyes of staff members who live on the mountain.

Mt. Fuji from the zero-distance perspective, photographed by mountain lodge staff and mountain guides, is the concept behind this photo book.

 

Sometimes beautiful, sometimes terrifying. We proudly believe that the people who know the many facets of Mt. Fuji best are the people who live on the mountain, like the lodge workers and guides who actually walk around the mountain and come into contact with its subtleties. Normally, climbers only get to know the mountain in July and August, after the opening of the climbing season, but the photo book will include many scenes that only those who work on the mountain, such as the preparation stage of mountain lodges and scenes outside the normal trails. Until now, most of the other photo books of Mt. Fuji have focused on the mountain itself or the scenery from the mountain.

 

 

This photo book will be different from others in a way that it will be composed of the photos taken from the perspective of the staff who live and work on Mt. Fuji.

 

From the zero-distance perspective of those of us who are standing and working in the embrace of the great mountain, you will surely feel the distance between you and Mt. Fuji slowly disappearing each time turn a page of the album. Through the above-mentioned, you will feel that you want to actually go climb Mt. Fuji.

 

 

 

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