Crowd control: Climbers and visitors gathering on the first day of the climbing season at Fuji Yoshidaguchi Trail (Yoshida Route) at the fifth station on the slopes of Mount Fuji in Fujiyoshida. — Reuters
Park rangers on the country’s sacred Mount Fuji officially started this year’s climbing season about 90 minutes before sunrise yesterday, levying new trail fees and limiting hiker numbers to curb overcrowding.
At 3am, officials opened a newly installed gate at a station placed just over halfway up the 3,776m peak that is a symbol of Japan and a magnet for tourists, now swarming into the country at a record pace.
Climbers must pay ¥2,000 (RM58) and their numbers will be limited to 4,000 a day after complaints of litter, pollution, and dangerously crowded trails flowed in last year.
“I think Mount Fuji will be very happy if everyone is more conscious about the environment and things like taking rubbish home with them,” said Sachiko Kan, 61, who was one of about 1,200 hikers gathered on the first day of the new measures.
The yen’s slide to a 38-year low has made Japan an irresistible bargain for overseas visitors.
Foreign tourists are injecting record sums into national coffers but are also putting strains on facilities for travel and hospitality, not to mention the patience of locals.
Hordes of tourists became a traffic hazard at a nearby photography spot where Mount Fuji appeared to float over a convenience store, driving officials to put up a barrier of black mesh to obstruct the view that had gone viral online.
The climbing season this year on Mount Fuji, which straddles the prefectures of Yamanashi and Shizuoka about 136km from Tokyo, runs until Sept 10, after which the weather gets too cold and snowy.
About 300,000 people are estimated to make the climb each year, official figures show.
Hikers typically start in the wee hours to make it to the top in time for sunrise.
For their money, climbers receive a wristband giving access to the trail between 3am and 4pm, excluding those with reservations for mountain huts closer to the peak, to whom the daily limit on visitors will not apply, authorities say.
The new trail curbs were necessary to prevent accidents and incidents of altitude sickness, particularly among foreign “bullet climbers”, or those racing to the top, Yamanashi governor Kotaro Nagasaki said last month. — Reuters
