Crowd control at Japan’s Mount Fuji as hiking season begins

MOUNT FUJI - Mount Fuji’s summer climbing season begins on July 1 with new crowd control measures on the Japanese volcano’s most popular hiking trail to combat overtourism.

An entry fee of 2,000 yen (S$17) plus an optional donation will be charged for those taking on the Yoshida Trail, and numbers will be capped at 4,000 per day.

Online reservations for the popular path have also been introduced in 2024 for the first time by the authorities concerned about safety and environmental damage on Japan’s highest mountain.

“I really like the idea because if you respect the mountain, you have to limit the people,” hiker Chetna Joshi told AFP at the trail’s Fifth Station – a busy starting point for hikers that is reachable by car.

The 47-year-old from India compared the crowds seen at Fuji in recent years to the “traffic jam” of climbers at the peak of Mount Everest.

Although windy and drizzly weather on July 1 prevented hikers from reaching the summit, Ms Joshi said ascending part-way was still a “great experience”.

“I love mountains,” she said. “I think it is not giving me permission this time. That’s OK. I accept it.”

Record tourist crowds are flocking to Japan post-pandemic, with many wanting to see or scale Mount Fuji, which is covered in snow most of the year but draws more than 220,000 visitors during each July-September climbing period.

Many trudge through the night to see the sunrise from the 3,776m summit.

Some sleep on the trail or start fires for heat, while many attempt to complete the hike without breaks, falling sick or getting injured as a result.

The once-peaceful pilgrimage site has three other main routes that will remain free to climb.

But the Yoshida Trail – accessed from Tokyo relatively easily – is the preferred option for most holidaymakers, with around 60 per cent of climbers choosing that route.

Each summer, reports in Japanese media describe tourists climbing Mount Fuji with insufficient mountaineering equipment.

The new measures were introduced “first and foremost to protect lives”, Governor Kotaro Nagasaki of Yamanashi prefecture has said.

In a reminder of the dangers, last week four bodies were found near the summit, according to local media reports.

“I personally feel like I’ve over-prepared,” said Mr Geoffrey Kula from the United States.

“Having looked at the forecast, being ready to swap out multiple outfits if clothes get wet and things like that. Yeah, it just seems like another crazy adventure.”

Tourist hot spot

Monthly visitors to Japan exceeded three million for the first time in March, and then again in April and May.

The tourism chief has deemed the country’s ambitious goal of attracting 60 million foreign tourists well within reach, having in 2023 welcomed more than 25 million.

Mount Fuji is about two hours from central Tokyo by train and can be seen for miles around.

The mountain has been immortalised in countless Japanese artworks, including Hokusai’s world-famous Great Wave.

But as in other tourist hot spots, such as Venice – which recently launched

a trial of entry fees for day visitors

– the influx has not been universally welcomed.

In May, Fujikawaguchiko, a town near Mount Fuji,

mounted a large mesh barrier at a popular viewing spot

for the volcano in an attempt to deter photo-taking by an ever-growing number of tourists.

Residents were fed up with streams of mostly foreign visitors littering, trespassing and breaking traffic rules in their hunt for a photo to share on social media.

Similar woes have befallen the country’s ancient capital of Kyoto, where locals have complained of tourists harassing the city’s famed geisha. AFP