The kanji in Mount Fuji (富士山)

In Japanese, Mount Fuji is 富士山 (Fujisan): 富, wealth, 士, a warrior or man of standing, and 山, mountain. The first two kanji are ateji: they were picked to spell the sound fu-ji, and they happen to carry lucky meanings too. The mountain was called Fuji before anyone wrote it in kanji, and nobody knows for sure what the name first meant.

What the kanji say

富 (tomi, or fu) means wealth or riches. Under the roof, 宀, sits 畐, which gives the sound. You’ll see it in 豊富 (houfu), plentiful, and 富む (tomu), to be rich in something.

士 (shi) is a man of standing. In Chinese it meant a gentleman or a scholar; in Japan it also came to mean a samurai, which is the meaning the video uses. Today it mostly turns up in job titles: 弁護士 (bengoshi), a lawyer, and 力士 (rikishi), a sumo wrestler.

山 (yama, or san) is a mountain: three peaks, drawn as simply as possible. In 富士山 it’s read さん (san), the Chinese-style reading. That san has nothing to do with the polite -san you put after people’s names.

Where the name Fuji comes from

The kanji 富士 are ateji: kanji picked to write a name that already existed. Wealth and a warrior make a good, lucky pair, but the spelling doesn’t tell you what Fuji meant. Nobody knows that for certain. Some of the main ideas:

• 不二, “not two”: a mountain without equal. This is an old folk etymology.
• 不死, “deathless”: the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, one of Japan’s oldest stories, ends with the elixir of immortality being burned on the mountain. The same tale also plays on the image of many warriors climbing its slopes, which fits today’s kanji neatly.
• An Ainu word for fire: the missionary John Batchelor (1855–1944) suggested this, but linguists reject it.

Scholars have suggested several more origins, from an old place name to a word for the mountain’s long, graceful slopes. Whatever the answer, the name came first and the kanji came later.

How to use it

• 富士山が見える！

  Fujisan ga mieru!

  I can see Mount Fuji!

• 富士山に登ったことがありますか。

  Fujisan ni nobotta koto ga arimasu ka.

  Have you ever climbed Mount Fuji?

• 今日は富士山がきれいに見えますね。

  Kyou wa Fujisan ga kirei ni miemasu ne.

  You can see Mount Fuji really well today.

• 一富士二鷹三茄子。

  Ichi Fuji ni taka san nasubi.

  First Fuji, second a hawk, third an eggplant.

• Say Fujisan, not Fujiyama. ふじやま exists, but it’s much less common in Japanese and many Japanese dictionaries leave it out.
• The luckiest dream of the year. 一富士二鷹三茄子 is a saying about 初夢 (hatsuyume), the first dream of the New Year. Dream of Fuji and you’re in luck; a hawk comes second and an eggplant third.
• Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan, 3,776 metres, and it’s an active volcano. Its last eruption began in 1707.

Words with the same kanji

Remember it

A wealthy (富) samurai (士) climbs a mountain (山). It isn’t what the name first meant, but it’s what the kanji show, and the picture will get you to the top.

The kanji in this lesson

Tap Draw it to watch the stroke order. Numbers show where each stroke starts.

Draw it

Draw it

Draw it

Sources

• Wikipedia: Mount Fuji (etymology)
• Wiktionary: 富士山

Written by the Chirami team with the help of AI, then checked against JMdict and KANJIDIC2. How we write lessons. Spotted a mistake? Email support@brightsmilesolutions.org.