Mount Fuji's climbing season commenced Wednesday as two of the four main hiking trails opened, with hikers making their way to the summit greeted by a clear sunrise breaking through clouds around 4:30 a.m. in fair weather.
Yamanashi Prefecture has set up two self-service payment kiosks for the 4,000 yen entrance fee at the 5th station on the most popular Yoshida Trail this year, to ease congestion for those who had not preregistered. The Subashiri Trail on the Shizuoka Prefecture side also opened on Wednesday, earlier than in past years.
Two other trails on the Shizuoka side of the 3,776-meter mountain will open on July 10 as usual.
Yamanashi Prefecture is urging climbers to preregister online and complete entrance fee payments in advance. Local authorities have also begun around-the-clock deployment of patrol and safety personnel at the summit area.
Jasper Overall, 26, an international student from Australia, said, "I wasn't sure the hike was even going to happen with that typhoon. We're really glad that we got to see the sunrise at the end."
A staff member of a mountain hut near the summit remarked that there were more climbers than he expected, despite a strong earthquake in the area and twin typhoons that passed close to Japan last week.
Both Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures have introduced a range of measures to regulate climber access amid a rise in foreign visitors and growing concerns about ill-prepared hikers in recent years.
During last year's season, the number of Mount Fuji climbers using the three trails on the Shizuoka side fell by 6.1 percent to 84,032 from the previous year, while those using Yamanashi's Yoshida Trail increased by 5.4 percent to 121,068.
Last Friday, a magnitude of 5.6 earthquake jolted Yamanashi Prefecture and nearby areas, measuring lower 6 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in Fujikawaguchiko, situated at the northern base of Mount Fuji. The volcanic alert for the mountain remains at Level 1, the lowest of five levels and indicating potential for increased activity.
Mount Fuji, designated a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site in 2013, attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year during its official climbing season. All four trails are scheduled to remain open through Sept 10.
© KYODO
5 Comments
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A garlic eater_
This is bizarre. How can you treat a mountain like an amusement park and install a kiosk for collecting entry fees? Who can claim a mountain as their property and regulate entry? The concept is absurd.
pOcketMonster
Well, i think normal taxpayers shouldn't have to pay for all the money that cost to maintain mount fuji trails, the bulldozers costs, the toilets cleaning / maintenance, the emergency team sitting at the summit...
It's not a park like Yellowstone but there are costs involved, if left without nobody taking care nature will take control and it will become a hazard and danger place to hike / trail.
Garthgoyle
The government.
Today was a great start of the season. The weather was great, the huts' staff are very genki and not much crowds yet.
One thing I could say, tho. Remember they now charge people and "judge" whether someone have the proper gear at the gates? Well, I saw a woman going up barefoot. BAREFOOT!!! They asked her if she had proper shoes, she pointed at her (tiny) backpack where she had some really thin sandals, and they let her pass. Tho I have to say she was fast.
All the new measures and rules are nothing more than たてまえ. Just a show to say they're doing something.
Albert
Since Fuji falls under Japanese territory, they can do what they want. Same as all other countries.
finally rich
Pay, register, reserve, etc. ... to climb a mountain with hundreds of other people slowing you down.
Hard pass!