Why does the series revolve around Mount Fuji?
Well, the first thing to keep in mind is that Mount Fuji is Japan’s tallest mountain, so it is the most prominent geographical feature on all of the islands in Japan. Mount Fuji became an important cultural symbol as early as the 11th or 12th centuries in Japan, if not earlier. However, one of the important things that happened during the Edo period was that the capital was moved from Kyoto, which is quite far away from Mount Fuji, to Edo, which is very close to Mount Fuji. When we think of Tokyo today, of course, we think of massive skyscrapers and Mount Fuji is only very rarely visible. But in 19th-c Edo, Mount Fuji would have been visible from many places in the city. So, it was really the most prominent landscape feature for people who were living in the new capital.
