JAPAN

JAPAN / 日本.

Mont Fuji from Mitsu Pass, in the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park.
Third stamp in a set of 4, issued on 16.01.1962.
Face value: 10 Japanese yen.
Printing: Photogravure.
Print: 8,000,000 copies.
Size: 36 x 26 mm.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 784.
- Sakuro No. P93.
- Scott No. 743.
- StampWorld No. 774.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 887.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 696.

Mount Fuji (富士山) is a compound volcano and the highest peak on the island of Honshu and in all of Japan, at 3,776.24 m (12,389.2 ft) in altitude. It is located between the prefectures of Shizuoka and Yamanashi in central Japan and west of Tokyo and is a symbol of Japan, very present in art and literature. Since ancient times it was considered a sacred place, access forbidden to women until the 19th century. Although it is still considered an active low-risk volcano, its last eruption dates from 1707.

The Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park (富士 箱根 伊豆 国立 公園) is distributed by the Yamanashi, Shizuoka, Kanagawa prefectures, and the Tokyo metropolitan area. It contains Mount Fuji, five Fuji lakes, Hakone, the Izu Peninsula, and the Izu Archipelago. It was established on February 2, 1936 as the Fuji-Hakone National Park (the Izu Archipelago  and the Izu Islands were added in 1950) and its current area is 1,227 km² (474 sq mi). The park is not a specific place, but a collection of scattered tourist sites that dot the region.