Fugaku Wind Cave () is a

lava tube A lava tube, more rarely called a pyroduct, is a 'roofed conduit through which molten lava travels away from its vent'. If lava in the tube drains out, it will leave an empty cave. Lava tubes are common in low-viscosity volcanic systems. La ...

at the northern foot of

Mount Fuji is an active stratovolcano located on the Japanese island of Honshu, with a summit elevation of . It is the highest mountain in Japan, the second-highest volcano on any Asian island (after Mount Kerinci on the Indonesian island of Sumatra), a ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. It is the largest of the several lava tubes that are found in the

Aokigahara Aokigahara (), also known as the , is a forest on the northwestern flank of the Mount Fuji on the island of Honshu in Japan, thriving on of hardened lava laid down by the last major eruption of Mount Fuji in 864 CE. The western edge of Aoki ...

forest in Fujikawaguchiko Town, Yamanashi Prefecture.

Aokigahara Forest

The 864 A.D. eruption of Mount Fuji brought huge lava flows, creating

Lake Shōji is one of the Fuji Five Lakes and located in the town of Fujikawaguchiko in southern Yamanashi Prefecture near Mount Fuji, Japan. Lake Shōji is the smallest of the Fuji Five Lakes in terms of surface area, and third deepest, with a maximum wa ...

and

Lake Sai , sometimes Saiko, is one of the Fuji Five Lakes and located in the town of Fujikawaguchiko in southern Yamanashi Prefecture near Mount Fuji, Japan. It is the fourth of the Fuji Five Lakes in terms of surface area, and second deepest, with a ...

of the

Fuji Five Lakes is the name of the area located at the base of Mount Fuji in the Yamanashi Prefecture of Japan. It has a population of about 100,000 and sits about above sea level. The five lakes created in the area by previous eruptions of Mount Fuji has give ...

by dividing Se-no-umi into two, several

cinder cones A cinder cone or scoria cone is a steep, conical landform of loose pyroclastic fragments, such as volcanic ash, clinkers, or scoria that has been built around a volcanic vent. The pyroclastic fragments are formed by explosive eruptions or lav ...

such as Ōmuro and Nagao mountains, and a large flat area now called the Aokigahara Forest. In this forest can be found several lava tubes, including: * Narusawa Ice Cave, in Narusawa Village, Yamanashi Prefecture * Fugaku Wind Cave, in Fujikawaguchiko Town, Yamanashi Pref. *

Lake Sai Bat Cave Lake Sai Bat Cave (, ''Saiko Kōmori Ana'') is the largest of the several lava tubes that are near Saiko Lake, Lake Sai, in the Aokigahara forest in the northern side of Mount Fuji, Japan. It is known as a cave where visitors can observe the bats ...

, in Fujikawaguchiko Town, Yamanashi Prefecture All three were declared as

Natural Monuments of Japan Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the laws, elements and phenomena of the physical world, including life. Although humans are part ...

in 1929.

Fugaku Wind Cave

Fugaku Wind Cave, 201 meters long with an average height of 8.7 meters, is found in the Aokigahara area. It is so named from ''Fugaku'' (富岳), a literary name for

(富士山), and ''Fūketsu'' (風穴) for wind cave, because there is enough circulation of air on the cave. The walls of the cave are mostly made of

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

. Inside the cave, there are icicles even in summer, lava terraces and rope-like lava forms. From the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

to the

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

(ca. 1600 to 1900) this cave was used to keep the

eggs An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo begins to develop. Egg, EGG or eggs may also refer to: Biology * Egg cell, the female reproductive cell (gamete) in oogamous organisms Food * Eggs as food Places * Egg, Austria * Egg, Switzerland ...

silk worms ''Bombyx mori'', commonly known as the domestic silk moth, is a moth species belonging to the family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of ''Bombyx mandarina'', the wild silk moth. Silkworms are the larvae of silk moths. The silkworm is of ...

. Fugaku Wind Cave along with Narusawa Ice Cave nearby is managed by Fuji Sightseeing Industry Co. of Fuji Express Group ( 富士急グループ). The souvenir shop at the entrance was renovated recently and opened in 2012, as "Wood Station Wind Cave".Renewal opening of Natural Monument of "Fugaku Wind Cave"
(in Japanese)

Transportation

Fugaku Wind Cave can be accessed from Japan National Route 139 on the south side (on Mt. Fuji side).

Gallery

File:Fugaku fuketsu - Ice pond.jpg, Ice pond File:Fugaku fuketsu - Walking in the cave.jpg, Walking through the cave File:Fugaku fuketsu - Natural refrigerator.jpg, Natural refrigerator. (In olden days, eggs of

were kept here.)

References

{{Reflist

External links

Fugaku Wind Cave (The Sightseeing Net of Yamanashi, "the Country of Mt. Fuji")
(in Japanese) Caves of Japan Tourist attractions in Yamanashi Prefecture Landforms of Yamanashi Prefecture Lava tubes Natural monuments of Japan Mount Fuji