Mt.Fuji.
The Japanese reverence her.
Lovingly calling her "Fuji-san".
I can see Fuji-san from my fifth floor lab window.
More than a hundred kilometers away.
She stands tall three thousand metres high
A dormant volcano.

Few sights around Tokyo can move you,
Than the sight of Fuji-san in the early morning sun.
The golden red glow of the sun imparts a blush.
Like being caught in the morning, sleeping late.

Fuji-san is temperamental.
Not all times of the day can you see her.
Not everyday either.
You can see her only in the mornings.
Before 8 am. Before the smog of a thousand vehicles.
Then she will disappear
Hiding behind a veil.
When the smaller hills around her are visible
Fuji-san sometimes chooses to remain covered
A few white clouds draping her like fine silk.

She is Beautiful after a rainy or snowy night
And rising far above the surrounding landscape,
She will command reverence ...

The whole area around Mt.Fuji is a designated national park, consisting of Mt.Fuji, the resort town of Hakone with a number of hot springs, and five lakes large around it (The last time Mt.Fuji erupted was in 1707, yet it is listed as an active volcano along with 77 others). It is a very popular spot for visitors, and whole droves of Japanese visit it everyday, come rain, snow or shine. It is always covered with snow, fully during winter, and only the top in summer. You can climb right up to the crater at the top. A road leads the way until the 2000 m point, from where one has to trek the rest of the way. This road is closed during winter, and so Mt.Fuji can be climbed only from July 1 to August 31 every year. There are several trails to choose from, taking two to six hours to reach the summit, and it is complete with small restaurants and cabins to rest along the way! That is a pity, since, as a Japanese colleague recently complained, everything in resort towns are so predictably similar - due to the commercialization. Same old restaurant chains, department stores and neighbourhood shops. The uniqueness of the place is lost out on you. Besides, everything is so institutionalized that the "Joy of Discovery" that you are supposed to feel in a natural setting is missed.

But Mt.Fuji has always been a part of the Japanese culture. Hundreds of Haiku poems (short and two-line) have been written about it, Noh and Kabuki theater drama have been played, and drawings of the mountain drawn from every conceivable angle. Ancient Japanese gardens in Edo (present day Tokyo) were always designed to have a special raised and shaded spot that was accessed by a winding series of wooden steps, leading to a single stone bench. And from there, one sat and viewed Mt.Fuji. (You cannot do that anymore due to the high-rise buildings and smog that covers Tokyo). Accommodating Mt.Fuji as a part of the "background" scenery of the garden has always been a guiding principle in its design.

All said and done, the sight of Mt.Fuji towering far above the rest of the mere hills around it still moves you. And shifting snow and internal lava movements still send a low rumble every minute, much like a tropical thunder. Come summer, I will join a team to climb to the top. And then will revel in its beauty.

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