Introduction

In recent years, there have been many topics related to mountains, such as the "Yama Girls" (Hiking girls, girls who love climbing the mountain in colorful clothes) boom, the registration of "Fujisan - sacred place and source of artistic inspiration" on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and the national holiday Mountain Day (August 11) took effect in 2016. Both men and women of all ages enjoy mountain climbing as an everyday leisure activity, and mountains are crowded with people.

Since ancient times in Japan, mountains have been worshipped as sacred places where shrines and temples were built. Also, there were many religious people who practiced asceticism by going deep into the mountains. During the Edo period (1603-1867), climbing for religious purposes became popular among ordinary people, and some cultured people enjoyed hiking itself. Of course, there were people who made a living by forestry and hunting in the deep mountains.

This kind of climbing culture changed dramatically in the Meiji period (1868-1912). In this Kaleidoscope of Books, under the title of “Dawn of Mountaineering - Mountains and People in Modern Japan,” we will introduce various forms of mountain climbing that led to today's style. Please enjoy modern Japanese mountain climbing as can be seen through these materials, and the people at different times who were attracted by mountains.

  • These high-definition images are available in the National Diet Library Digital Collections. Those that are labelled NDL Digital Collections can be viewed via the Internet on any computer. Those labelled Restricted access can only be viewed on computer terminals at the NDL or an affiliated library, or via the Digitized Contents Transmission Service for Individuals. For more information, please refer to the webpages for the Digitized Contents Transmission Service for Libraries and Digitized Contents Transmission Service for Individuals.
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  • The original Japanese-language article first appeared in March 2015 as part of Small Electronic Exhibitions Kaleidoscope of Books, No. 18. Please note that the descriptions herein are based on information that was current at that time.

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Chapter 1: New-style mountain climbing

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