Fuji-Hakone-Izu

Declared in 1936 as one of Japan's first four national parks, it protects Mount Fuji, revered for centuries as a sacred mountain and still ringed by more than 1,300 Shinto shrines dedicated to its guardian deity. It is the most visited national park in Japan, partly for its closeness to Tokyo, and combines the volcano itself with the hot-spring district of Hakone — a historic resting stage on the old Tōkaidō road — and the volcanic Izu Islands, still geologically active. Mount Fuji was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2013, not as a natural wonder but as a "sacred place and source of artistic inspiration", in recognition of its influence on centuries of Japanese painting and literature.