The Mountain Man: Mt Fuji Photography By Hashimuki Makot
Many poems, haikus, songs and stories have been written about Mount Fuji over the past centuries, showing the deep admiration Japan has for its holy mountain.
In fact, Mt Fuji is not considered as a regular mountain and has a spiritual position within Japanese culture and society.
Moreover, in June 2013, Mt Fuji was registered as a UNESCO world heritage site for its cultural significance and status as a sacred symbol of Japan. This registration pushed the Japanese photographer Hashimuki Makoto to pursue his photography career more intently.
““It also happened that Mount Fuji had just been declared a World Heritage site. I wanted people in Japan and around the world to know more about this mountain, Japan’s highest peak and the pride of local residents, so I decided to get serious about photography.””
Makoto was born in Shizuoka prefecture in 1977. He began taking photos and videos with his smartphone and camera in 2013, with some of them going viral on the internet.
Later, in 2016, one of his photos was selected for inclusion in the Tokyo Camera Club's Top 10 of the year. He's best known for his photos of the sacred mountain from all kinds of different angles and during unusual weather conditions.
Even though the photos Makoto takes are spectacular enough, he says what makes his work unique comes from uploading his creative output on social media.
"Countless photographers have made Mount Fuji their theme, and few can surpass Ōyama Yukio, the master of the genre. That's why I want to make my reputation by doing things my way, via social media," he states in an interview with nippon.com.
He says that photographing Fuji and sharing these pictures on platforms like Twitter or Instagram helped him build a network of people that eventually helped him get onboard a Cessna to shoot aerial photos.
