Tibetans and Japanese supporters pray for world peace and freedom on Mt. Fuji

Tuesday, 25 August 2009 16:28 Tibetan Official media: www.tibet.net

Tibetan exiles and their Japanese supporters perform a religious ceremony on the flanks of Mt Fuji/AFP photo

Dharamshala: Tibetans living in Japan and their Japanese supporters made a pilgrimage up Mount Fuji on Saturday to pray for world peace, AFP news agency reported.

"Today there are a lot of problems in China, not just in Tibet but also in East Turkestan (Xinjiang) and Inner Mongolia," AFP quoted Lhakpa Tshoko, the Japan and East Asia representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, as saying.

"The nature of suffering we are enduring is the same, so we are also praying for our brothers and sisters in those regions," he said.

"We chose Mt Fuji because it is a very important mountain, loved by the Japanese people and revered in the Shinto religion," said Lhakpa Tshoko.

At Mt Fuji, about 50 Tibetans, Mongolians and Japanese supporters on Friday started the trek up Japan's highest mountain.

Bad weather prevented them from holding a sunrise prayer ceremony Saturday on the summit of the 3,776 metre (12,390 feet) high mountain, but they later performed religious rituals on the flank of the volcano.