Mt. Fuji climbing season starts with 4,000 yen fee
Mt. Fuji's climbing season commenced as the most popular trail opened Tuesday, with local authorities charging a doubled fee of 4,000 yen ($28) to ease overcrowding and the impact on the environment, Kyodo reports.
Yamanashi Prefecture is accepting a maximum of 4,000 hikers per day on the Yoshida Trail, the most commonly used route to the summit of the 3,776-meter mountain, that is scheduled to remain open through Sept. 10.
"I made it just in time to see the sun come up. I'm very happy. I want to climb mountains in other countries, too," said Shiho Miyaoka, a high school student from Kyoto who came to Japan's highest peak with her parents to see the sunrise.
The prefecture has tightened measures amid a rise in foreign visitors and growing concern about the many ill-prepared hikers seen on the mountain in recent years.
Those without an overnight reservation for a mountain hut will be prevented from passing through a gate at the 5th station from 2 p.m., two hours earlier than last year, to 3 a.m.
People planning to use the Yoshida Trail must also agree when making an online reservation to terms set by the local government, including the use of warm clothing and appropriate footwear.
Local government officials acting as "Mt. Fuji rangers" at the gate will provide safety guidance. Starting from this season, they can bar entry to lightly dressed visitors.
The three other trails on the Shizuoka Prefecture side of the mountain are scheduled to open on July 10, with the local government also charging a 4,000 yen fee but without an upper limit for the number of hikers.
Mt. Fuji, designated a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site in 2013, attracts hundreds of thousands of people each year during its official climbing season through September.
As stated previously, climbers using the four trails on Mt. Fuji will be charged a fee of 4,000 yen ($27) from this summer after a plan by the Shizuoka prefectural government was approved in March by the local assembly.
