List of the 100 famous mountains in Japan

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Mount Fuji

The List of the 100 famous mountains in Japan (日本百名山, Nihon Hyaku-meizan^?) is a book composed in 1964 by mountaineer/author Kyūya Fukada. Based on essays he wrote about each mountain, the list became famous when Crown Prince Naruhito took note of it. The list has been the topic of NHK documentaries, and other hiking books.

The complete list (sorted into regions from north/east to south/west) is below.

1 History
2 Merits and demerits of the list
3 Assessment of the List
4 Selecting which mountains to publish
5 Hokkaidō
6 Tōhoku region
7 Kantō region
8 Chūbu region
9 Western Japan
10 See also
11 External links

[edit] History

The selection of celebrated mountains among Japan's mountains had been done since the Edo period. Tani Bunchō praised 90 mountains as celebrated mountains in 日本名山図会 (A collection of maps and pictures of famous Japanese mountains), but among these were included such low-altitude mountains as Mount Asama in Ise, Mie and Mount Nokogiri on the Boso Peninsula. Unsatisfied with this selection, Fukuda, who had climbed many mountains in Japan, selected 100 celebrated Japanese mountains based on a combination of grace, history, and individuality, moreover excluding mountains with an altitude of less than 1,500 meters.

Though it was mostly unknown, other than to some hiking-lovers and avid readers, it is said that reports that List of the 100 famous mountains in Japan was one of Naruhito, Crown Prince of Japan's favorite books gave the book its chance. The Crown Prince is a mountain enthusiast to the extent that he has even belonged to an alpine club, and it has been reported that it is a dream of his to reach the summit of every mountain on the list.

Since about the 1980s, there has been a mountain-climbing boom with middle-aged and elderly people. Even though it is called mountain-climbing, it is not the orthodox variety which includes rock-climbing, but something more like hiking or trekking. However, due to the preparation of mountain lodges and mountain trails, and advancement in the power of mountaineering tools, it became possible to climb mountain courses which had previously been considered very rugged.

By way of this state of affairs, List of the 100 famous mountains in Japan became widely read, and people who choose mountains from the book to climb have increased. Furthermore, in imitation of Crown Prince Naruhito, people who have made a goal of reaching the summit of every mountain on the list have appeared in great numbers.

What spurred that on were mountaineering programs on NHK. The station televised the satellite broadcast Kyūya Fukada no nihon hyaku-meizan (Kyūya Fukada's List of the 100 famous mountains in Japan), a documentary about taking up the mountains on the list one by one, and Rambō Minami's Chūkōnen no tame no tozan nyūmon (A mountaineering primer for the middle-aged and elderly). These gained high popularity, and List of the 100 famous mountains in Japan became widely known, even by ordinary people.

Since then, perhaps to ride on the popularity of Fukuda's list, such lists as lists of 200 and 300 mountains, lists of hundreds of mountains in various places, and a list of 100 floral mountains have been appearing. In order to differentiate it from these other 100 mountain lists, Fukada's list is also called Fukada hyaku-meizan.

In 2002, 平田和文 established a new record by traversing all of the list's 100 mountains in 66 days.

[edit] Merits and demerits of the list

Due to the aforementioned boom, there is clearly a concentration of mountain climbers going to the mountains listed in List of the 100 famous mountains in Japan. Because of the increase in mountain climbers, and the preparation of mountain lodges and mountain trails, it is becoming easier to enjoy mountain-climbing and hiking. On the other hand, mountains which are not attracting climbers are gradually falling into ruin.

Moreover, there is also the serious problem of environmental destruction which is connected to the increase of mountain climbers (especially the waste materials of large-scale mountain lodges, etc.) People who prefer quiet mountaineering have found the mountain tours associated with the boom to be a nuisance, and there are even people who detest List of the 100 famous mountains in Japan.

Recently, the "middled aged and elderly mountain-climbing boom" has been experiencing a revival. reckless mountain climbers have met with disaster trying to reach the top of the 100 mountains without fully considering the limits of their own abilities, and problems with the demand for rescue to be carried out with ease have increased.

Furthermore, it is said that the fastest one to criticize the List of the 100 famous mountains in Japan boom was Katsuichi Honda.

[edit] Assessment of the List

Compared to other modern essays on Japanese mountains such as Mountaineering and Exploration in the Japanese Alps by Walter Weston and essays by 小島烏水, 志賀重昂, 串田孫一, and 冠松次郎, the amount of sentences is small.

The content of the writing goes on at length about the history of the mountains, especially the origins of their names. It is not a mountaineering chronicle that people can read to vicariously experience mountain-climbing or nature. Some think that the reason the List has been widely received and became a bestseller is that it put into focus 100 mountains which were becoming the objects of belief since long ago.

[edit] Selecting which mountains to publish

There have been many varying opinions among people about the standard of worth for the selection of 100 mountains from the Japanese archipelago. It is often pointed out that List of the 100 famous mountains in Japan leans toward mountains in the Chūbu region. It has been reported that Fukada, who was from Ishikawa Prefecture, was brought up looking at Mt. Hakusan, but he did not gush with fondness over mountains west of Mt. Hakusan, which he only selected 13 of.

Fukuda's three criteria for the selection of 100 celebrated mountains was their grace, history, and individuality. However, grace and individuality are in the eye of the beholder, and as history goes, many legends have been circulated about mountains throughout the Kinki region. Moreover, many mountain-lovers have argued that since Mt. Tsukaba, with an altitude of 877 meters (876 at the time), was selected, certain mountains in other localities should have been selected.