FUN WITH MAPS – ISSUE 2022-224DAILY FEATURE:

By Steve Kovacs (Introduction by Chuck Gibson)

LOVELAND, OH (December 16, 2022) – In Issue 2022-224 of Steve Kovacs Fun with Maps, we learn a little volcanic history.       

Sacred Mountain

The Hoei Eruption started on December 16, 1707.  There were an additional nine eruptions since 781, the first in recorded history. By simple math it is overdue, but then volcanoes don’t do math.

The volcano is Mount Fuji, a sacred mountain to the Japanese.  Its snow-capped peak reaches 12,400 feet, thus being the highest mountain in Japan.

The mountain inspired countless poems, novels, drawings, paintings and the like.  It even made it to be added to the World Heritage List.

There is a human-driven dark side to the mountain – on the northwest base is Aokigahara Forest, home of the world’s third most “popular” place for suicide.

Tirion’s map of Japan is shown here from 1769.  It is somewhat misshaped, representative of little knowledge westerners had of Japan in the 18th century, a closed society in those days.

Steve Kovacs and his wife Theresa reside in Loveland, Ohio where they raised their two children. He is a passionate collector of antique maps.

Visit his antique map boutique world-on-paper online. Watch for his daily feature Steve Kovacs: Fun with Maps here on Loveland Beacon.