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Skating Down Mount Fuji

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Posted by junior on September 8th, 2008

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I found an article about a British man who's going to skate down Mount Fuji for charity. He will descend from the 5th station to the base of the mountain.

http://www.japantoday.com/category/lifestyle/view/adventurous-brit-plans...

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Shizuoka Airport

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Posted by junior on September 8th, 2008

The English name for the new airport which will be open in spring 2009 has been decided to Shizuoka Airport. Although its Japanese nickname is "Mount Fuji Shizuoka Airport", the "Mount Fuji" part was not admitted as the official name by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT).
The abbreviation will be FSZ, which came from "Fuji" and "Shizuoka".

http://www.chunichi.co.jp/article/shizuoka/20080905/CK2008090502000233.h...

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Snow on Mount Fuji

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Posted by junior on August 9th, 2008

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Mount Fuji with Snow in August

A few hours ago we had sudden thunderstorm. Now the rain is stopped, and we see some white spots near the top of Mount Fuji. I've never seen snow on Mount Fuji in August.

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Obon Vacation

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Posted by junior on August 5th, 2008

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August 13th through 16th are called Obon holidays. Obon is traditionally a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of ancestors. Like Thanksgiving holidays in the United States, the historical meaning is being lost and many people simply consider it "summer vacation".

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Biotoilet

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Posted by junior on July 30th, 2008

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As the number of climbers increased in the past few decades, human waste became the biggest problem of Mount Fuji. When the amount of waste exceeded the disposal capacity of the mountain's toilet system, undecomposed toilet papers were discharged on the mountain, which people called "White River".
To solve this problem, which is essential to become a UNESCO World Heritage, the mountain's toilets have been dramatically improved. The types of high-technology toilets installed on Mount Fuji include Incineration-method toilet, oyster-shell-method toilet, and biotoilet.

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Live Broadcast from The Summit of Mount Fuji

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Posted by junior on July 29th, 2008

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Today and yesterday NHK (a Japanese public broadcaster) showed a TV program with live broadcast from the summit of Mount Fuji. I missed the today's show, but yesterday they were introducing a college professor who's conducting a research at the obsolete weather station.
The station was established at the summit of Mount Fuji in 1936, and it has been the center of Japan's meteorological observation until recently. As the technology of aerological observation and automatic observation have been improved, the station became unmanned in 2004.

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The End of Rainy Season

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Posted by junior on July 28th, 2008

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DCSA0097.jpg

On July 19th Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) announced that the rainy season was over in Mount Fuji area. It's a day earlier than the average year, according to JMA.

The picture is a view of Mount Fuji from my company in Fuji, Shizuoka. The mountain is usually covered by clouds in summer, but today we can see most of the figure. This is a typical view of Mount Fuji in our daily life.

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The end of rainy season? Not really.

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Posted by junior on July 12th, 2008

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32 degrees celsius (89.6 degrees fahrenheit)

The sky cleared up. The temperature is rising. Our seedy thermometer shows 32 degrees celsius (89.6 degrees fahrenheit) as of 12:30 PM, July 12th.

Is it the end of rainy season? Not really, according to the wether forecast. We'll go back to the rainy season from tomorrow and it seems to last at least for another week. Not a happy news for Mt. Fuji climbers.

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Diamond Fuji

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Posted by junior on April 25th, 2008

Here's a picture of this year's Diamond Fuji, a view of sunrise from the summit of Mt. Fuji. This glorious sight can be seen every year from Lake Tanukiko (Fujinomiya, Shizuoka) on around April 20 and August 20. Although August may seem more attractive because you can then also visit the mountain for climbing (the mountain is open only during summer), you have much higher chance of seeing Diamond Fuji in April because the air is much clearer.

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