The city name comes from the former shrine name of
Fujisan Hongū Sengen Taisha, "Fujinomiya". It is an ancient settlement that developed as a prosperous
toriimae-machi (town in front of
torii) of Fujisan Hongū Sengen Taisha, where the
Fuji clan served as the
high priest of the shrine. Nearby is the sanctuary of
Taiseki-ji temple, founded in 1290 by
Nikkō Shōnin as the headquarters of
Nichiren Shōshū Buddhism. Fujinomiya is closely related to Mount Fuji, and was located in the crossroad of Ōmiya and Murayamaguchi mountain pilgrimage trails. During the
Kamakura period, the hunting event
Fuji no Makigari arranged by
shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo was held in the ancient region of
Fujino, where the
Revenge of the Soga Brothers incident also took place. These events were disseminated as historical materials such as
Ōrai Mono (historical primary education textbooks created mainly in the form of letters), and as the subject of entertainment such as
kabuki,
noh, and
jōruri. Fujinomiya was a
post town (fortified during the
Sengoku period) on the primary route connecting Suruga with
Kai Province. During the
Edo period, the area was
tenryō territory under direct control of the
Tokugawa shogunate. British consul Sir
Rutherford Alcock made the first recorded ascent on Mount Fuji by a non-Japanese person from Fujinomiya in 1860. During the cadastral reform of the early
Meiji period in 1889, the area was reorganized into Omiya Town and eight villages with
Fuji District, Shizuoka. On 1 June 1942, the modern city was established with the merger of Omiya town with neighboring Fujioka village. The city expanded by annexing neighboring Fujine village in 1955, and Kitayama, Shiraito, Kamiide and Ueno villages in 1956. The most recent merger was on 23 March 2010, when the town of
Shibakawa (from
Fuji District) was merged into Fujinomiya. ==Geography==