Fifty-year-old Shoichi Ono has scaled Mount Fuji every year for the past nine years, spending a total of more than 80 days on the mountain, photographing views from the top such as the rising sun and dynamic cloud formations.

On why he is so attracted to the mountain and climbs it every year with heavy equipment, Ono said, "I want to come as close as possible to the sun, which I believe is the source of all life."

He held an exhibition of his works in June in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, and another in late August in Shinjuku Ward.