Local and prefectural governments and businesses surrounding Mount Fuji welcomed the news that the World Heritage Committee is expected to designate Japan's most famous and popular mountain as a World Heritage site, despite concerns about what it will mean to the local environment and questions about how its preservation will be funded.
Long the most recognizable symbol of Japan, Fuji has been revered as a sacred mountain since ancient times. In the early Heian Period (794-1185), a Sengen Shinto shrine that enshrines Konohana-sakuya-hime, the goddess associated with volcanoes, was built at the base of the mountain's north side.
In spiritual terms, Fuji is divided into three zones. The bottom, or Kusa-yama, is said to represent the everyday world. The forest line, or Ki-yama, represents the transient area between the world of humans and the world of gods, and the "burned" area, or Yake-yama, at the top is said to represent the realm of the gods, Buddha and death.
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