The Fuji Five Lakes

Fuji’s eruptions dammed old valleys, leaving Kawaguchi, Sai, Motosu, Shōji and Yamanaka in a crown north of the volcano. Three still connect through groundwater and share the same water level. The view from Motosu, with the summit mirrored on the surface, is the one engraved on the back of the thousand-yen note, after a photograph by Kōyō Okada. Aokigahara forest, grown on the lava of 864, covers the northwestern shore and disturbs compasses through the iron content of the ground.