Yamanashi Prefecture Governor Kotaro Nagasaki shows a QR code and new entry payment procedures for climbing Mount Fuji on June 19, 2024 (AFP/Philip FONG)
Mount Fuji’s summer season begins Monday, with new measures to control crowds on the Japanese volcano’s most popular hiking trail, a victim of overtourism.
Starting early Monday, a fee of 11.60 euros (2,000 yen) will be charged for hikers who wish to use the Yoshida trail, and a maximum of 4,000 people per day will be allowed to access it.
Record numbers of tourists are flocking to Japan, many of whom want to climb the slopes of Mount Fuji, which is covered in snow for most of the year but attracts more than 220,000 visitors each summer from July to September.
To regulate the flow, authorities concerned about safety and environmental damage on Japan’s highest mountain have also introduced an online reservation system for the first time.
The gate of Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park which leads to the famous Yoshida Trail for hikers climbing Mount Fuji, June 19, 2024 (AFP/Philip FONG)
Many climb at night to see the sunrise from the summit located at 3,776 m. Some sleep on the trail or light fires to keep warm, while many attempt to complete the hike without a break, risking serious failure or injury.
Last week, a few days before the opening of the summer season, four people lost their lives while climbing Mount Fuji, the symbol of Japan and a once peaceful place of pilgrimage.
The new measures were introduced “first and foremost to protect the lives” of hikers, but not to prevent them from coming, Yamanashi Prefectural Governor Kotaro Nagasaki said recently.
Selfie in front of Mount Fuji at Komitake Shrine which leads to the famous Yoshida Trail for hikers climbing Mount Fuji, in Narusawa on June 19, 2024. (AFP/Philip FONG)
The volcano, which remains active, has three other main routes which will remain open and free.
But the Yoshida trail – easily accessible from Tokyo – is the preferred choice of around 60% of climbers, according to official data.
Last year, Japan attracted more than 25 million foreign tourists and last month its tourism chief unveiled an ambitious target of 60 million visitors a year.
But as in other tourist hotspots, such as Venice – which also launched a recent trial of entry fees for day visitors – the influx has not necessarily been well received.
In May, the town of Fujikawaguchiko, located near Mount Fuji, erected a large tarpaulin covering the volcano to discourage tourists from taking photos. Town residents were tired of the incivility of visitors looking for a photo to share on social media.
Yamanashi Prefecture Governor Kotaro Nagasaki shows a wooden certificate and explains new procedures for climbing Mount Fuji on June 19, 2024 (AFP/Philip FONG)
And in June, Fuji, another city not far away, announced the construction of a high metal fence on a bridge for the same reason.
Overtourism problems also exist in other cities across Japan, including the country’s former capital, Kyoto, where residents have complained about tourists’ behavior toward famous geishas and alleyways have been closed.
© 2024 AFP
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