Above: Black, Red, and White versions of the Mount Fuji Basalt Bracelet sitting on a slab of Mount Fuji lava.

At 3,776 meters, Mount Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan. This bracelet features a center bead crafted from the material removed from the crater of 1707 Hōei eruption by local stonecutters. By all measures, the Hōei eruption is the largest single eruption of Mount Fuji in recorded history.

Created and assembled here at Mini Museum, the volcanic bead is complemented by golden sheen obsidian and offset by acrylic lacquer beads streaked with gold paint.  The lacquer beads are available in red, black, or white and all three are quite stunning.

Above: Jamie wearing the red version bracelet.

The full bracelet measures 7" in length (~17.5cm) though it will stretch a bit further. If you need a larger or smaller size, please let us know. We can make a custom version just for you. As pictured above, the size works well for men and women.

Above: Closeup of all three versions.

As with our other bracelets, the Mount Fuji Bracelet comes in a gray gift box with a small information card that provides background on the material and serves as the certificate of authenticity. A sample of the card is provided at the bottom of this page.

Please Note: The gold accents on the Mount Fuji beads are all unique. As you might expect, there will be spots on each bead without an accent. This is due to the way the beads are painted and is completely normal.

More About Mount Fuji and the Hōei eruption

misty rain
a day with Mount Fuji unseen:
so enchanting.

Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694)

The modern Mount Fuji is actually three volcanoes in one: Komitake, Ko-Fuji, and Shin-Fuji. Over the course of the last several hundred thousand years, each volcano formed out of the remains of the last with Shin-Fuji becoming active roughly 10,000 years ago.

Shin-Fuji went through several stages of development which included basaltic flows covering large areas to the north, west and southwestern foothills. The stratovolcano's symmetrical cone has served as an inspiration for artists for centuries and more recently for scientists studying the geometrical evolution of volcanoes.

Above: Cross-section of Mount Fuji and related volcanic piles (Source: “Evolution of Mount Fuji, Japan: Inference from drilling into the subaerial oldest volcano, pre-Komitakeiar_722 470..488” http://bit.ly/1PpvTbX)

The shape of a volcano is primarily determined by hydraulic resistance to the flow of magma in a porous medium. Mount Fuji in particular was considered an ideal example of the model.

Above: Fine Wind, Clear Morning, and 凱風快晴.

The Japanese artist, Katsushika Hokusai was also an admirer of Mount Fuji. His popular series of landscape prints 富嶽三十六景 or Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji show the mountain across the range of seasons and from many different views. The image above comes from this collection. The print is known by several names, including Fine Wind, Clear Morning, and 凱風快晴. The slope of the mountain's flank is nearly a perfect fit for the porous flow theory.

"From around the age of six, I had the habit of sketching from life. I became an artist, and from fifty on began producing works that won some reputation, but nothing I did before the age of seventy was worthy of attention. At seventy-three, I began to grasp the structures of birds and beasts, insects and fish, and of the way plants grow. If I go on trying, I will surely understand them still better by the time I am eighty-six, so that by ninety I will have penetrated to their essential nature. At one hundred, I may well have a positively divine understanding of them, while at one hundred and thirty, forty, or more I will have reached the stage where every dot and every stroke I paint will be alive. May Heaven, that grants long life, give me the chance to prove that this is no lie."

Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849)

The Hōei eruption was a year-long event triggered by a massive 8.7 earthquake. The eruption began on December 16, 1707 and ended February 24, 1708. 

Above: Katsushika Hokusai's (1760-1849) impression of the Hōei eruption.

The ashfall from this eruption was immense, with over 800 million cubic metres (28×10⁹ cu ft) released. 

Above: "Map of Mt. Fuji showing the extent of Hoei air-fall deposits, in terms of isopachs (after Miyaji, 1984 and Miyaji and Koyama, 2007), with locations of sampling section (FJ19 and FJ20). The isopach giving thickness in cm. The
insert shows tectonic setting and the location of the main map (box)." (Source:  "Petrological constraints on magma evolution of the Fuji volcano: A case study for the 1707 Hoei eruption.")

Further Reading

Yamamoto, T., et al. "Basaltic pyroclastic flows of Fuji volcano, Japan: characteristics of the deposits and their origin." Bulletin of volcanology 67.7 (2005): 622-633.

Lacey, A., J. R. Ockendon, and D. L. Turcotte. "On the geometrical form of volcanoes." Earth and Planetary Science Letters 54.1 (1981): 139-143.

Fujita, Eisuke, et al. "Stress field change around the Mount Fuji volcano magma system caused by the Tohoku megathrust earthquake, Japan." Bulletin of volcanology 75.1 (2013): 1-14.

Miyaji, Naomichi, et al. "High-resolution reconstruction of the Hoei eruption (AD 1707) of Fuji volcano, Japan." Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 207.3-4 (2011): 113-129.

Sano, Takashi, Takaaki Fukuoka, and Mitsunori Ishimoto. "Petrological constraints on magma evolution of the Fuji volcano: A case study for the 1707 Hoei eruption." Studies on the Origin and Biodiversity in the Sagami Sea Fossa Magna Element and the Izu-Ogasawara (Bonin) Arc, Mem. Natl. Mus. Nat. Sci 47 (2011): 471-496.

Above: The back of the specimen card.