Mount Fuji, easily visible from Tokyo, is the highest mountain of Japan and one of the most recognizable mountains in the world.
Especially in winter, when its graceful cone is topped with a snow-covered peak, it is easy to see why Mount Fuji is one of the most loved symbols of Japan.
So much so that there are literally hundreds of peaks around the country that are called variations of the name “Fujisan” or “Fujiyama,” lesser mountains named by the locals for their passing resemblance to their more famous and taller sibling.
(There is even a 35-meter hill in Akita Prefecture called Fujiyama (or Myouden Fuji) that claims the title of “The Shortest Mount Fuji“.)
Below are some of the more famous local Mount Fuji’s of Japan.
Rishiri Fuji (Mount Rishiri)
Mount Rishiri is a 1,721-meter mountain in Hokkaido. It is traditionally the first mountain in the Hyakumeizan list (the 100 Famous Mountains of Japan). {Photo by shinyai}
Sanuki Fuji (Iinoyama)
This graceful little hill is located in Kagawa Prefecture in Shikoku Island near Osaka. It stands at a mere 421.9 meters. {Photo by oddesseygate (blog)}
Nikko Fuji (Mount Nantai)
This 2,484.2-meter volcano in Nikko is a member of the Hyakumeizan and a popular destination among hikers. The view of Lake Chuzenjiko at the top is breathtaking. {Photo by kazuna}
Ezo Fuji (Mount Yotei)
One of the few Japanese mountains that actually resemble the real Fuji, Mount Yotei in Hokkaido is a 1,898-meter volcano and a member of the Hyakumeizan. {Photo by lefty1007 (blog)}
Aizu Fuji (Mount Bandai)
Mount Bandai (also called Aizu Bandai) lies in Fukushima Prefecture in the main island of Honshu. A member of the Hyakumeizan, this 1,819-meter volcano is popular with hikers.
Nanbu Fuji (Mount Iwate)
Located in Iwate Prefecure, the 2038-meter Mount Iwate is the highest peak of the Ou Mountain Range in northern Honshu. A member of Hyakumeizan. {Photo by ehnmark}
Dewa/Akita Fuji (Mount Chokai)
Mount Chokai is an active volcano that lies on the border of Yamagata and Akita Prefectures in northern Japan. A member of Hyakumeizan. {Photo by douglasperkins (blog)}
Hoki Fuji (Mount Daisen)
Daisen (literally “big mountain”) lies in Tottori Prefecure facing the Sea of Japan. It is a complex volcano with an elevation of 1,729 meters. A member of the Hyakumeizan. {Photo by naoyafujii (blog)}
Satsuma Fuji (Mount Kaimon)
This little volcano (924 meters) in Kagoshima Prefecture in southern Japan is a member of Hyakumeizan. Its last known eruption was in 885. {Photo by samuel bietenholz (website)}
Haruna Fuji (Mount Haruna)
This graceful, conical dormant volcano is located in Gunma Prefecture in central Japan and overlooks Lake Haruna. Elevation: 1,449 meters. {Photo by yamakidoms}
Mount Fuji is, of course, a member of the Pacific Ring of Fire, a string of volcanoes that encircles the Pacific Ocean, and many of its more exotic siblings can be found throughout this belt.
The list below starts with New Zealand and goes clockwise around the Pacific Ocean, to Indonesia and Philippines, up to Alaska; and then down to the US, Costa Rica, Ecuador and then finally, Chile.
Mount Taranaki
Mount Taranaki (or Mount Egmont) in New Zealand’ North Island is a 2518-meter volcano that substituted for Mount Fuji in the film The Last Samurai. {Photo by Light Knight (blog)}
Mount Merapi
The so-called “Java Fuji”, Mount Merapi in the local language means “Mountain of Fire.” It lies in central Java in Indonesia and is the country’s most active volcano, having erupted regularly since 1548. {Photo by zephyr_jiza}
Mayon Volcano
“Mayon” is the shortened version of the local word which means “beautiful” and indeed, this 2,463-meter volcano located in Luzon in Philippines probably has the most perfect cone of all. This “Luzon Fuji” is the most active volcano in the country. {Photo by Tomas Tam}
Mount Shishaldin
Mount Shishaldin is a 2,857-meter volcano located in Unimak Island in the Aleutian Islands chain of Alaska. Think of an all-white Mount Fuji and you get the picture of Mount Shishaldin in winter. {Photo by Shawn Dahle}
Mount Rainier
Mount Rainier (the so-called “Tacoma Fuji”) in Washington State in the US, together with New Zealand’s Mount Ngauruhoe, is Mount Fuji’s official sister mountain. At 4,392 meters, it is the highest mountain in the Cascade Range. {Photo by pfly (blog)}
Mount Hood
Mount Hood in Oregon in the US is reputedly the second most frequently climbed mountain in the world, next only to Mount Fuji. Sometimes called the “Mount Fuji of North America.” {Photo by Rob Sheppard}
Mount Saint Helens
Before the massive 1980 eruption that severely disfigured its face, Mount Saint Helens was called the “Mount Fuji of America”. The eruption reduced its height from the original 2,950 meters to 2,549 meters. {Photo by John Hann}
Arenal Volcano
Arsenal Volcano, the Costa Rican Fuji, more closely resembles its tropical cousin, Mayon Volcano in the Philippines, than Mount Fuji in Japan. At 1,657 meters, it is one of the most active volcanoes in Costa Rica. {Photo by Bordas}
Mount Cotopaxi
Cotopaxi, the “Mount Fuji of Ecuador”, is a 5,897-meter volcano that is part of the Andes Mountain Range. It is one of the most active mountains in the world. {Photo by Gerard Prins}
Mount Osorno
Snow-capped Mount Osorno in Chile is probably Mount Fuji’s closest dead-ringer. This “Mount Fuji of Chile” is 2,652 meters tall and one of the most distinctive mountains of the Chilean Andes. {Photo by bogavantelojo}
Atlasov Island
This uninhabited island is the upper cone of a submarine volcano that rises out of the Sea of Okhotsk to a height of 2,339 meters. The Japanese call the island Araido and the graceful volcano is also referred to as “Araido Fuji”. {Thanks cjw!}
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