秀峰薩摩富士

About this photo

This photograph shows Mount Kaimon (Kaimondake) in Ibusuki, Kagoshima Prefecture. It appears in Nihon Meisho Fuzoku Dai Shashincho (Great Photo Album of Japan's Famous Places and Customs), published in 1931 (Showa 6). Satsuma Fuji is another name for this mountain.

Mount Kaimon is a 924-meter volcano rising at the southern tip of the Satsuma Peninsula, born about 3,700 years ago in the Jomon period. With no tall mountains around it, its cone can be seen from far away, which is why it is called Satsuma Fuji. Eruptions are recorded in 874 and 885, in the Heian period, and at the Hashimuregawa archaeological site at its foot, traces of daily life from that time have been found buried under volcanic ash.

Hirakiki Shrine, at the foot of the mountain, has long worshiped Mount Kaimon as a god and is the ichinomiya, the highest-ranking shrine, of the old Satsuma Province. The mountain lies within Kirishima-Kinkowan National Park, and as one of the 100 Famous Mountains of Japan it draws many climbers.

Glossary