
Mount Fuji is an active volcano. Its cone is almost perfectly symmetrical because repeated eruptions built up smooth layers of lava, ash, and cinders. You can see Fuji only about one in three mornings. Winter air gives the best visibility. Climbing season runs from July to early September.

Owakudani is a volcanic valley here in Hakone. You can see behind me steam vents that smell strongly like sulfur. Locals like to boil eggs in those vents and they say it adds seven years to your life. Sometimes the smell of sulfur is so strong that they have to close down everything. On a…

This lake here at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan is well known because on a clear day when there’s no clouds and no wind, you can sometimes see the reflection of Mount Fuji in the water.