Sohei Nishino | Mountain Line, Fuji, 2022

From his studio in Heda, Japan, Sohei Nishino has an amazing view out to Mount Fuji (Fuji-san), the highest mountain in Japan, rising to 12,388 feet. 

Having not produced work in Japan for several years, Sohei found himself looking out to the volcano each day as the Covid-19 lockdown continued, and decided to take on the challenge of making a piece of work focusing on this iconic, dormant volcano which last erupted in 1707. 

Its distinctive, sloping silhouette is steeped in Japanese culture and history, and holds something of a mythical status in Japanese society and is an quintessential element in Japanese folklore and art history. Named after the Buddhist fire goddess Fuchi, the volcano is the holiest of Japan’s “Three Holy Mountains” and is sacred to the Shinto goddess Sengen-Sama, whose shrine is found at its summit. It is revered by Buddhists as a gateway to another world.

And so, in 2021, Sohei embarked on the long journey to create a superlative piece of work on this iconic Japanese symbol. He spent some three months walking up and down the paths of Fuji, documenting the bustling activities of Buddhist priests, families and visitors who make the pilgrimage up to the summit year round. With Japan in isolated lockdown, Fuji took on a new role to comfort and inspire the people that came to climb its slopes. One can see in the detail, the variety of people who come and find succour during their ascent, taking the time to think and gaze at the wonderful views afforded by its elevation.

The climb is steep and can take anything up to 10 hours.  Sohei climbed Fuji on several occasions during the official climbing season which is only two months long, July and August, when most of the snow has melted. He climbed it also at night, as many do, and these moments are illustrated by the dark areas in the piece, the pathways sometimes illuminated by flame torches. The sight of the sun rising as one approaches the summit is inspiring and it is through Sohei’s inimitable style that we see how beautiful it must be on his slow purposeful progression towards the morning horizon.

As with all his collage work, Sohei then spent another three months in his studio assembling the 25,000 individual photographs as one giant collage, creating his own personal and contemporary vision of Mount Fuji, inspired by the fine art of the Yamato-e, the genre of painting that first flourished during Japan’s Heian period(794–1185), an era of rich cultural activity when the focus shifted towards Japanese subject matter and motifs.