Introduction

Mount Fuji is the largest visible single natural object in Japan, physically towering above surrounding settlements today just as it dominated human perceptions of nature in earlier times. The arrival of the Anthropocene does not, of course, mean that humans can now directly control the volcanic power of Mount Fuji. Japan remains extremely vulnerable to both earthquake and volcanic hazards. This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book suggests that Tthe concept of the Anthropocene brings with it a renewed interest in strata and records. Over the history of the Japanese archipelago, regular eruptions of Mount Fuji have deposited thick layers of ash and lava over a wide area surrounding the volcano. The Fukushima nuclear accident had similarities to many previous envirotechnical disasters, yet there are important differences in scale and impact.