Fuji does not need an introduction, but the shrines around its foot deserve one. Yamamiya Sengen-jinja stands on the southwest side of the mountain at the edge of Fujinomiya, in Shizuoka Prefecture, and it is one of the old shrines dedicated to Konohanasakuya-hime, the blossoming princess who is the deity of Mount Fuji, and her cult spread to the whole country as the Sengen shrines. The Yamamiya precinct is a calm, cedar-shaded compound where the mountain presides from behind, and the main buildings stand in the old Edo-period style, with dark wood and copper roofing, and the mood of a place that has served pilgrims for centuries.
The pilgrimage was serious business. Climbers called fujiko, members of devotional clubs, walked from Edo and elsewhere, purified themselves at shrines like this one and then went up in white robes, chanting a mantra about clean senses and a clear mountain. It was this long religious and artistic relationship with the volcano that persuaded UNESCO in 2013 to inscribe Fujisan as a cultural landscape, not a natural site, and the shrines are an important part of that. The pure spring water that wells up in the town, filtered through ancient lava for decades, feeds ponds and streams and is part of the same sacred picture.
Riding here is easy to love. Fujinomiya is a town of about one hundred and twenty thousand people, with plenty of fuel, convenience stores and a famous local fried noodle dish, yakisoba, made with a firm noodle and cabbage and topped with a powder of dried fish. The mountain roads that climb to the fifth stations, the starting points for climbers, are scenic but subject to seasonal traffic regulations, and in the climbing season private vehicles may be restricted, so check the current rules before heading up. The stretch of Route 139 along the western flank passes the Shiraito Falls, a curtain of fine water pouring over a lava lip, and the open grassland of the Asagiri Plateau, where cattle graze below the volcano.
Fuji hides itself in cloud more often than visitors expect, and the clearest views come on cold, dry mornings in winter and in late autumn. Summers are hazy, humid, and brief on the summit. If the mountain shows itself, stop wherever you can safely park, and look. If it does not, the shrine and its forest are consolation.