MOUNTAIN DAY IN JAPAN

Happy Mountain Day to everyone! Mountain day is a recent holiday in Japan which reminds us especially the people who live in urban centres filled with noises and a fast pace of life, to breath freshly in a new world, to enjoy the beauty of nature gifted to all of us. Enjoying the blessings of the nature the mountains offer is a practice of Shintoism, a dominant religious practice in Japan

HISTORY OF MOUNTAIN DAY IN JAPAN

Japan is a leading country when it comes to development in Asia. But despite their fast pace, they remain grounded to their roots. The idea for Mountain Day came in 2014 , or ‘Yama-no-Hi’ was thought about and in 2016 it was accepted as a public holiday. August 11 was established as the day for the holiday’s observance because, in the Chinese characters used for writing Japanese — Kanji,  the number eight resembles a mountain, and the number 11 resembles two trees. The first formal celebration of this day took place in the Japanese Alps at Kamikochi in Matsumoto, Nagano. The day is celebrated on August 11 but, if the date falls on a Sunday, the holiday will be observed on the following Monday.

FUN FACTS OF THE MT. FUJI, JAPAN’S FAMOUS MOUNTAIN PEAK.

1. Fuji is also an active volcano.
2. Mt Fuji became the first ski site in Japan in 1911, when Austrian soldiers, Major Theodore Edler von Lerch and Egon Edler von Kratzer skied down from the 9th stage. Today, there is still a plaque on the 5th stage of Mt Fuji commemorating this event.

1. Along with Mount Tate and Mount Haku, Mount Fuji is one of Japan’s Three Holy Mountains. Since ancient times it has been a location of religious importance in Shintoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism.