Fujiyama () is a steel roller coaster at Fuji-Q Highland, Fujiyoshida, Japan.RCDB entry for Fujiyama
/ref> When Fujiyama opened in 1996, it was the world's tallest roller coaster at ,RCDB list of roller coasters by height
/ref> and had the largest drop in the world at .
/ref> Fujiyama was also the world's fastest roller coaster for a year of its operation, succeeded by Tower of Terror at Dreamworld theme park in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia, in 1997.RCDB list of roller coasters by speed
/ref> Despite being the world's fastest roller coaster in operation for a year, Fujiyama set no world records for roller coaster speed. The '' Steel Phantom'' coaster at Kennywood in Pennsylvania, U.S., set the world record for speed before engineers added additional brakes to slow the ride down because of safety and rider comfort concerns.Kennywood history page

Name

Fujiyama is named after the iconic Mount Fuji, which stands to the west of

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

. The term Fujiyama comes from "fuji", and "yama" which means mountain. Mount Fuji is seldom referred to as "Fujiyama" in the

Japanese language is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been ...

, but is instead more commonly referred to as "Fujisan", using the

on'yomi are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequ ...

pronunciation of the "mountain" character. The roller coaster Fujiyama is named as a play on the common foreign mistransliteration.

Design

As with many

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

roller coasters, Fujiyama has a maximum rider age (~64 years old) and a (if an unlimited ride ticket has not been purchased) separate entrance fee (2,000

yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the e ...

) in addition to the height restrictions typical of any roller coaster. The layout of Fujiyama is that of a typical out-and-back roller coaster. It incorporates many of the elements that are typical of this coaster design, including a large first drop, " headchopper" elements and a series of small "bunny hills" near the end of the coaster's course.

Reception

Given its record-breaking status, Fujiyama attracted considerable attention when it was built. The ride has been rated positively by some reviewers, garnering 5 stars in Steven Urbanowicz's ''The Roller Coaster Lover's Companion''. Fujiyama did not, however, achieve a listing amongst the top 50 steel roller coaster in '' Amusement Today's'' 2009

Golden Ticket Awards ''Amusement Today'' is a monthly periodical that features articles, news, pictures and reviews about all things relating to the amusement park industry, including parks, rides, and ride manufacturers. The trade newspaper, which is based in Arl ...

.200
Golden Ticket Award results
published by ''Amusement Today''

In medical literature

Fujiyama inadvertently attracted attention in 2000 after an article was published in the journal ''

Neurology Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal ...

''. The article discussed the possible relationship between riding roller coasters and the occurrence of

subdural hematoma A subdural hematoma (SDH) is a type of bleeding in which a collection of blood—usually but not always associated with a traumatic brain injury—gathers between the inner layer of the dura mater and the arachnoid mater of the meninges surround ...

s. The primary case study cited by the authors was a woman who had reported severe headaches after riding several roller coasters at Fuji-Q Highland, including Fujiyama. Upon investigation, it was discovered that this woman did in fact have a subdural hematoma. Subsequent research, however, has maintained that this risk remains low and is not unique to this particular coaster.

Records

References

{{Authority control Fuji-Q Highland Roller coasters introduced in 1996 Roller coasters in Japan