First snowfall on Mount Fuji

This year the snow fell 24 days earlier than in 2019 and two days earlier than the average. Many Japanese Shinto and Buddhists make pilgrimages to the mountain in search of a communion with silence and with nature.

Tokyo (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Since yesterday, Mount Fuji, Japan's symbolic volcano, has a snow-covered peak. The Kofu Meteorological Office in Yamanashi prefecture made the official announcement, stating that this year the snow fell 24 days earlier than in 2019 and two days earlier than the average. The phenomenon of snow on Mount Fuji has been recorded since 1894. The earliest fall in time occurred in 2008, when the first snow fell on 9 August. The latest occurred in 2016, with snow covering the top of the mountain on 26 October.

Mount Fuji is the highest peak in the country (3776 meters) and is a well-known tourist destination abroad and in the homeland, but it is above all a religious element: many Japanese Shinto and Buddhists make pilgrimages to the mountain in search of communion with silence and with nature. Mount Fuji is also considered a source of inspiration for artists.

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