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Show Wt4nrub. IMobrt IX lH THE DULY HERALD, Pro, I tah Page Dl Spiritualism, commercialism meet atop Mount Fuji By ERJC TALMADGS fJaunt Full Associated Press Writer ATOP MOUNT FUJI. Japan The sun peeks over the horizon, sending bright red ray up like the spokes of a flaming wheel into the frigid blue air. Stars still shimmer in the west. The tops of a cloud bank glow w ith the light of the moon. All is calm, timeless until you look down. ' There, in an unbroken zigzag of flashlight beams, thousands of climbers are snaking their way up the steep, black slope of Mount Fpji. On the summit there are hundreds more, laughing, drinking, praying. , Even shopping. And in the center of it all, at the bottom of the crater of the tallest peak in Japan, there is a message, one of dozens, written in beige, d stones: "Fumi Loves : 75 Tt pott 1Z365 tort (3 776 mews) t mount Fwe scess h on sre moirsain cna& tOaSt r ard Utt on tj st&s &J i tvee-we-e n&iom: There hwe been 17. CHINA i 1 Uemstui Mount Fuji ;f Kyushu Ken" East China -- J i JttBtM t fe las! m 1707 Hokkaido J Sf V. rt fist-size- ' Isao Kasai, a stout, graying man who lives near the base of the mountain, has climbed Fuji a dozen or so times and never tires . .Qicfcyo J ... Qctmx v-- . JfOOmSe i 200km APWm J Ca&ieto purify themselves or to perform a keeping He has been at the top in the more public service middle of a storm, has seen the divine wrath from befalling their mountain cast its huge shadow on community. Shrines to the goddess of the a sea of clouds in the valleys Konohana no mountain. below, has skidded down its which means someSakuyahime, slopes. "This mountain is special." he thing like Princess of the Blossoming Tree Rower, were built all over says. "This is the heart of Japan." the country. Miniature Fujis were 85 is of Though percent Japan covered by mountains. Fuji does erected in the gardens of the indeed stand alone. Its peak is The fervor of Fuji worship at Japan's highest ground cooled at the turn of the century, 12,385 feet above sea level. Rising when Japan raced to modernize, in an almost perfectly symmetrical and Westernize, its culture. To is cone, Fuji universally regarded most climbers today, the ascent is a as Japan's most beautiful summit. been-therdone-thsort of But for all its size and grandeur. excursion. at the shrines Prayers is an climb. Fuji easy are more an afterthought, out of a During the official climbing sense of tradition, than anything season, from July through August. else. 150.000 to 200,000 people reach But the mountain's mystical the summit. has not completely disapMost go up at night to view the appeal peared. sunrise. Tour buses from Tokyo Several new religious groups and Osaka Japan's two biggest have built headquarters at the volcities bring in droves of cano's base. One is the Soka climbers each afternoon and take Gakkai, one of Japan's largest them out. exhausted, the next Buddhist sects. morning. Another is the doomsday cult When the lodges and shops Aum Shinri Kyo, whose founder is close for the season, the tourists now on trial for allegedly mastertaper off. And before the first minding the deadly nerve gas snows of autumn begin to fall, attack in Tokyo's subways in 1995. Kasai, a member of the Keep Fuji At their commune on the edge of Clean Society, and thousands of the Sea of Trees, dozens of his folother volunteers scour the slopes lowers still go about their daily tons of cigarette 'routine. of garbage butts, beer cans, candy wrappers. For the next nine months, Fuji A thick, wet fog covers station will sleep. No. 5, the point halfway up the mountain where except for Traditional "torii" gates at the hard-cor- e the traditionalists summit, guarded by statues of climb begins. s, mark the beginHere, climbers park their recresnarling of ning Fuji's sacred ground. On ational vehicles and cars in huge opposite sides of the mountain's lots and start off in style. There are lodges, restaurants, deep brown crater stand two consouvenir shops, vending machines crete Shinto shrines. Glittering amulets and little tin selling everything from Mild Sevfor luck by en cigarettes to Boss Coffee. Inside bells deposited climbers young and old are piled the shops are canned oxygen and around each shrine. Coins are lava-roc- k candy, in pink or bluish stuck into cracks in the weather-beate- n t of the people at station gray wood of the gates. No. 5 are picnickers, Throughout most of Japan's hiswho go no farther. tory, Fuji was revered as the restFor those who do, the walk out ing place of spirits, the dwelling on pavement, turns quickly begins place of gods. d trail and Pilgrims carrying sticks and to a broad, bells would climb to its peak to gradually winds its way up into a of it. o cinder-- covered well-to-d- AP Photos o. Rising in an almost symmetrical cone, Mount Fuji is reflected by the morning sunlight earli er at Japan's highest ground, 12,385 feet, Fuji is universally regard- this year. With its peak ed as Japan's most beautiful summit. tourists visit the mountain. at e, rs well-packe- 1 'it the sun begins to rise over the horizon, Eiji Yamamoto, right, Tsutomu Kasai, center in the back As narrow, looser mix of black or deep violet cinder and small rock that continues with just a few craggy basalt interruptions all the way to the peak. From station No. 5, which is at an altitude of 8,250 feet, the walk to the summit takes five hours. Most climbers, however, stop for the night along the way at the more than a dozen lodges, where they try to sleep shoulder-to-shoul ground, and Eiko Kobayashi, left, keep the pace toward the summit of Mount Fuji. der on the floor, sharing a big blanket with the person next to them, stranger or not. The average rate is about 7,000 yen ($70), which includes a light meal. Horses can be hired at station No. 5 for 12,000 yen ($120). But even they stop at station No. 7, at the 8,900-folevel. After that, all it to the top. climbers must two-le- g The grade at first is gentle. But near the peak, the main trails steep ot Genetic testing raises host of concerns By KAREN RAFINSKI Knight-Ridde- r Newspapers issue is complicated by a controversy raging between researchers labs they say are and the rushing the test to market too soon before the results are fully understood or the social and emotional complexities sorted out. Moorhouse's concerns are typical of the worries that have prompted many women to inquire about gene screening and then decide against it, local doctors say. for-pro- To HOLLYWOOD. Fla. it seems Moorhouse Margaret breast cancer is stalking her family. First her grandmother died of it; two months ago her mother lost a breast to the disease. Will she or her young daughters be next? Scientists might be able to answer the question with a genetic test but Moorhouse isn't sure she wants to know. "I don't want to live in fear." the Hollywood woman said. "But if the test could help me live longer I'd want to do it. I'd want to change whatever I could for me and my daughters." Moorhouse's quandary highlights the thorny questions surrounding genetic testing, which is becoming increasingly available as the worldwide Human Genome Project continues to unravel the human genetic code. At least 50 disease-causin- g genes have been identified thus far. among them the BRCA-- 1 and BRCA-- 2 genes associated with breast cancer. In, theory, the advent of the breast cancer gene screening has the potential to forewarn women who are predisposed to the disease and ultimately save lives. In practice, it raises more questions than it answers. How do women cope if the genetic odds are stacked against them? Would they lose their insurance or even their jobs? Given that there is no cure or sure treatment, can anything useful be done with the knowledge? The COPY BRCA-2- . is believed to be cancer, less dangerous and scientists estimate women with mutations on it have up to a 30 to 40 percent lifetime risk of developing breast cancer. But some of the 125 mutations identified so far might be less dangerous than others. And scientists still don't fully understand the role of environmental influences. So a woman's actual risk could be high- - "A lot of women are asking about it but I are being very circum- think most doctors spect about their advice at this point." Dr. Norman L. Talpins "A lot of women are asking about it but I think most doctors are being very circumspect about their advice at this point." said Dr. Norman L. Talpins, director of the new Breast Center at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood. As the test becomes more available commercially, women are in the unusual position of making decisions before scientists have figured out all the implications of their discoveries. Scientists estimate that the women with flaws on the first gene linked to breast cancer, BRCA-1- , have up to an 85 percent chance of developing breast cancer. That's about eight times the risk of women without a flaw in the gene, which is percent. A second gene linked to breast 1 1 1 Japan, whose islands arc along the Pacific Ocean's "Ring of Fire," was born in the spewing lava and seismic spasms of volcanoes like Mount Fuji. Many still transform its landscape. Though officially dormant. Fuji has had 7 major eruptions in historical times. The last was in 707, less than two months after a severe earthquake killed nearly 5,000 people. Ash from the eruption blanketed Tokyo. 60 miles to the northeast. Today, even at the bottom of the quarter-mile-wicrater, there is hardly a hint of life. There are no sulfur smells, no plumes of steam, no bubbling cauldrons of molten 1 lion-dog- gray-Mos- Many er or lower than those general estimates. Now consider the other mitigating factors. Inherited breast cancer appears to account for only five to 10 percent of all breast cancer cases. And for some reason that scientists don't yet understand, 15 percent of the women predisposed to cancer because of a flawed gene don't develop it. Bottom line: a test that shows you have a genetic predisposition to breast cancer doesn't mean you'll actually get it. And not having a mutation doesn't mean you won't. Those uncertainties are why genetic researchers like J. Fernando Arena at the University of Miami urge women to proceed with caution. "We don't have enough data yet to be sure of a lot of things," Arena said. He is working on fine tuning the picture as part of a comprehensive genetic testing program just begun at the University of Miami, the Cancer Genetics Program at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, that offers genetic screening to women with a family history of breast cancer. The tests are available to the public for up to $2,100 provided a family has a history of breast cancer and can meet the program's requirements. Because of all the uncertainties, , Arena and many other doctors say genetic screening isn't ready for widespread use in the general population. When the genes were first discovered, a gentleman's agreement kept the test off the open market. But the Genetics and IVF Institute of Fairfax, Va., raised the hackles of scientists when it recently began advertising in Jewish publications around the country, offering screening for what it terms the "Jewish mutation" that predisposes women to breast and ovarian cancer. The institute will screen any Jewish woman for the four mutations linked so far to Jewish women of eastern European descent for $295. On scientific grounds, scientists question the test's validity because it doesn't include all the other possible mutations a woman might carry. They say the institute is trading on women's fears. en into rocky stairways cluttered with sweaty climbers stopping to catch their breath before making the final assault. d The population at the crater is five. All are scientists who rotate in shifts at the and out for three-wee- k squat government observatory that monitors both the weather and the volcano's inner rumblings. year-roun- rock. Even so. most vulcanologists believe Fuji will erupt again. But probably not in the near future. The sky is a bright azure. A large crowd mills about in front of a brick building housing restrooms. A smaller mob browses at the summit souvenir shop, picking through shelves lined with "Japan's No. 1" pennants, picture postcards, gilded key chains. Ayaka and Chizuru Ito, twin sisters, sit side by side a few yards from the crowds. They have done it. Made it to the top. And with them to share the moment are their parents, their brother, their septuagenarian grandparents, an aunt, an uncle. How do they feel? "Happy, I suppose," says Ayaka, weakly sipping from a tin cup full of hot coffee. "Actually, I'm just tired," says Chizuru. Scientific advisers vote against contraceptive ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) A new contraceptive that's a cross between the diaphragm dent of its interim studies that it asked for the outside review now. and the cervical cap looks "I'm not going to recompromising, but nobody yet mend it to my daughter at this knows for certain how well it point," said panel Chairman Dr. prevents pregnancy, scientific Gary Eglinton, of Georgetown advisers told the government. University, before the commitSome women's groups had tee voted, against the urged the Food and Drug device. Administration to quickly Company officials estimated approve Lea's Shield, arguing that testing 150 more women that the millions of unplanned would take three to five years. pregnancies each year show the The FDA is not bound by its need for more contraceptive advisers' recommendations, but options. follows them. usually But the FDA's scientific The vast majority of Ameriadvisers recommended Monday women who use contracepcan against selling the device to tives use the birth control pill. American women now, noting that no other contraceptive has Less than 5 percent use women's barrier contraever been approved on the basis devices that block ceptives of such limited studies. the flow of sperm. Manufacturer Yama Inc., The most commonly used managed to get only 55 women to complete a study are diaphragms or the cervical of the device. The study found a cap, but they have disadvan9 percent pregnancy rate. tages that Lea's Shield sought to overcome. that The company argued Unlike diaphragms or the was acceptable quality, indicating that had the women used cervical cap, Lea's Shield would be marketed as a Lea's Shield for a year, the maximum pregnancy would have device that does not been 18 percent, equivalent to require special custom fitting by a doctor. That is a particular most diaphragms. But the FDA typically problem with the diaphragm, requires a study of 200 women which a woman often has to have refitted if she gains or losbefore approving contraceptive es weight or has a baby. devices. Yama had felt so confi 7-- 1, |