Mount Fuji (Fuji-san), at 3,776 meters tall, is the highest mountain on the island of Honshu and all of Japan. It straddles Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures in central Japan just west of Tokyo, from whence it can be seen on a clear day. The mountain is a composite volcano. A sacred mountain since ancient times, Mt. Fuji's summit was forbidden to women until the Meiji Era. The volcano is currently classifies as active with low risk of eruption. The last recorded eruption occurred in 1707 during the Edo period. At this time, a new crater along the mountain with a second peak, named 'Hoeizan' after the era name, formed halfway down its side. After the rise of the samurai in the feudal Japanese Middle Ages (12th and 16th centuries), the current kanji for 'Fuji' came into use. 'Fu' means wealth while 'ji' is samurai. 'San' means mountain.