Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi

 

IN a previous article, I wrote about the gist of a lecture on “Archeological sites in Makkah” delivered by Dr. Samir Baraqah at Dr. Abdulmohsin Farraj Al-Qahtani’s Weekly Cultural Forum in the presence of several prominent figures. There was also a reference to my journey to Jabal Al-Noor (Mountain of Light), which houses the Hera Cave where Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) used to sit and meditate for long hours before the Holy Qur’an was revealed to him. In that article, I promised to write about my journey to the famous Mount Fuji of Japan.



In both journeys, I was accompanied by Abdulaziz Saisho — a Japanese Muslim journalist and author whom I met in Japan during my diplomatic career there. Mount Fuji is one of the landmarks of Japan. Located on Honshu Island, it is the highest mountain in Japan at 3,776 meters. Mount Fuji, which lies about 100 km south west of Japan’s capital Tokyo, is listed among UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites. Japanese people consider Mount Fuji, which is exceptionally symmetrical cone and snow-capped several months a year, as holy and call it Fuji-san or Mr. Fuji.



The idea of climbing Mount Fuji itself was a fascination for me when I received an invitation from Saisho. I welcomed it in view of the fact that climbing the mountain is really amazing for anyone reaching Japan in the special season for it. The official climbing season lasts for more than one month every year when the peak of Mount Fuji gets rid of snow, which envelops the mountain the remaining months of the year. During this period, the mountain is usually free of snow, the weather is relatively mild, access by public transportation is easy and the mountain huts are operating.



The invitation to climb Mount Fuji was not to me alone but also to other members at the Saud diplomatic mission in Japan. Two of my colleagues  — one Saudi and another Kuwaiti — expressed their readiness to join us in climbing the mountain. However, three days before the climb, the Kuwaiti and Saudi colleagues gave excuses for not joining Saisho and me. Anyhow, both of us made the preparations to start the journey as scheduled, including collecting proper equipment, including special shoes for mountaineering.



It was a Saturday afternoon when we set out to climb Mount Fuji. We traveled in a car from Tokyo and reached the foothill of the mountain within a few hours. Mount Fuji is divided into ten stations with the first station at the foot of the mountain and the tenth station at the summit. Paved roads go as far as station 5 — halfway up the mountain. There are four 5th stations on different sides of the mountain from where most people start their ascent. The climbers can take their cars up to station 5. We parked our car at the station and then started climbing. We saw kiosks, serving tea, water and snacks at every station and there were some mountaineers taking rest at these kiosks.



It was very tiresome for those who do not have experience in climbing to the peak of the mountain. Even though they feel enthusiastic in the beginning, they will get tired soon and feel difficult even to breathe and are forced to slow down the climb. This was the case with my friend Saisho. When he saw me climbing the mountain without much uneasiness contrary to his expectation, he told me: “I was afraid that you would get tired first before me but you are going ahead of me without much strain.” For this, my reply was that I belong to a mountainous region and was accustomed to hiking in mountains.



We took rest at each station and drank green tea, which is the popular tea in Japan and it was available free of charge at most places. The mountain trail was not a difficult one for the climbers as there were steps slopping to the right and left sides. We started hiking from station 5 at 5 p.m. and reached station 9 at around 1.00, just after midnight. We were so tired by then that we decided to spend the night there. Saisho was the group leader and when he suggested this, I readily agreed to it.



We slept at a tent-like hut at the station and woke up early in the morning. By the time, we saw a large number of hikers who were engaged in warming up in the cold weather. After performing morning prayer, we started hiking to station 10, which is the summit of the mountain. It took not much time to reach the top of the mountain where we chose an appropriate station to watch the amazing beauty of sunrise. Saisho was ready with his camera to take snaps of the magnificent view of the sunrise from behind a chain of mountains that are situated below Mount Fiji. There were some drops of snow seen scattered here and there on top of Fuji.



After watching this, we at the breakfast prepared by Saisho. He brought the materials required for cooking traditional Japanese breakfast on top of Mount Fuji. After taking several pictures of the sunrise and other picturesque scenes, we started descending the mountain by taking an entirely different trail, a dusty short route. We managed to reach station 5 where our car was parked within a time shorter than the time that we took to ascend.



Before returning to Tokyo, we decided to visit an underwater house owned by Saisho’s friend. In the next article, I will shed light on our amazing trip from the highest destination in Japan to the lowest one, which is situated 10 meters below the water level. One who wants to visit this house requires diving of at least 30 meters to reach the door of the house and that would be after equipping oneself with an oxygen cylinder.





— Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi is a former Saudi diplomat who specializes in Southeast Asian affairs. He can be reached at algham@hotmail.com