A city in Shizuoka prefecture in the central (Chubu) part of the main island (Honshu) of Japan.
The kanji for fuji is the same kanji as used for Mount Fuji also known as Fujisan, and the town sits at the southern foot of this sacred and imposing mountain. The kanji for miya means shrine and can refer to a town built around a shrine, and, indeed, this town is built around a large shrine, Sengen Taisha. Sengen is the Shinto goddess of Mt. Fuji, or so I am told. Now, you are wondering about the no part aren`t you? No? Well, too bad--it is the particle in Japanese that indicates possession or means something like "of". Thus the city`s name can be loosely translated as "Fuji`s shrine".
The population is approximately 120,000. It is important to note, however, that this is considered rural by Japanese standards. Fujinomiya has many green tea farms and wild chickens, but not a single movie theater. There are few foreigners living here, and the noble folk of Fujinomiya often seem a bit frightened of those who are here. One American likened coming to Fujinomiya to "suddenly dropping a Japanese person in the middle of Iowa."
The economy of Fujinomiya is basically blue-collar and agricultural. There is an archery (yabusame) festival held at the beginning of May during Golden Week.