Selections of celebrated mountains have been produced since the
Edo period.
Tani Bunchō praised 90 mountains in 日本名山図会 (
A collection of maps and pictures of famous Japanese mountains), but among these were included such small mountains as Mount Asama in
Ise, Mie, and
Mount Nokogiri on the
Bōsō Peninsula. Unsatisfied with this selection, Fukuda, who had climbed many mountains in Japan, selected 100 celebrated Japanese mountains based on a combination of grace, history, and individuality. Though it was at first unknown other than to some hiking enthusiasts and avid readers, reports that the list was one of the (then) Crown Prince's favorite books increased its profile. The Emperor is a mountain enthusiast to the extent that he has even belonged to an
alpine club, and it has been reported that it is a dream of his to reach the summit of every mountain on the list. Since the 1980s, there has been a climbing boom amongst the middle-aged. It is not
alpinism for experts, sometimes including
rock climbing, that has been popularised, but rather more casual hiking or trekking for ordinary people. However, due to the creation of more mountain lodges and trails, and the improvement of mountaineering technology, it became possible to climb mountains which had previously been considered very rugged. The list became widely read, and more and more people have chosen mountains from the book to climb. In imitation of the Emperor, many people have also set the goal of reaching every summit on the list. Mountaineering programs on
NHK helped popularize the list. The station televised a documentary about taking up the mountains on the list one by one, and
Rambō Minami's mountaineering primer for the middle-aged. These gained broad popularity, and the list became widely known. Since then, lists of 200 and 300 mountains, lists of hundreds of mountains in various localities, and a list of 100 floral mountains have appeared. In 2002, a new record was established when all the mountains were traversed in 66 days. This was superseded in 2007, with a new record of 48 continuous days. This was reduced to 33 days in 2014 ==Assessment==