Japan:

Mount Fuji’s summer climbing season began on Monday with new crowd control measures to combat over-tourism on the Japanese volcano’s most popular trail.

An entry fee of 2,000 yen ($13) plus an optional donation is being charged for those taking on the Yoshida Trail, and numbers are capped at 4,000 per day.

Online reservations have also been introduced this year by 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 Monday prevented hikers from reaching the summit, Joshi said ascending part way was still a “great experience”.

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

Record tourist crowds are flocking to Japan post-pandemic, with many wanting to see or scale Mount Fuji.

The mountain is covered in snow most of the year but draws more than 220,000 visitors each July-September climbing period.

Many trudge through the night to see the sunrise from the 3,776-metre (12,388-foot) summit.

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

 ‘Crazy adventure’ 

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,” Geoffrey Kula, a climber from the United States, told AFP.

“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 hotspot 

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 last year 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 is a symbol of Japan that has been immortalised in countless artworks, including Hokusai’s “Great Wave”.

But as in other tourist hotspots, such as Venice — which recently launched a trial of entry fees for day visitors — the influx has not been universally welcomed.

In May, a town near Mount Fuji mounted a large 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.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Tokyo:

A Japanese town was set Tuesday to mount a large mesh barrier across the road from an Instagram-famous view of Mount Fuji in an attempt to deter badly behaved tourists.

The plan made headlines last month when it was announced by officials fed up with what locals said were unending streams of mostly foreign visitors littering, trespassing and breaking traffic rules.

Since then, poles have been put up in preparation for a screen measuring 2.5 by 20 metres (eight by 65 feet) to block the sight of Japan’s highest mountain emerging from behind a Lawson convenience store.

On Tuesday morning, workers in hard hats were putting the finishing touches to the metal poles in preparation for attaching the barrier at the photo spot in Fujikawaguchiko town, an AFP reporter at the scene said.

Snaps of this visual juxtaposition taken from a narrow stretch of pavement across a busy road from the Lawson, a ubiquitous Japanese chain, have been widely shared online.

But construction of the barrier itself was initially delayed due to problems getting the right materials delivered, giving tourists a few more days to chase the perfect shot.

Local officials and residents have said the town welcomes visitors, but complain that those who cross the street non-stop, ignore red lights, park illegally and smoke outside of designated areas have proved a nuisance.

“It’s regrettable we have to do this, because of some tourists who can’t respect rules,” a town official told AFP in April, saying that traffic signs and warnings from security guards had failed to improve the situation.

The measure is also meant to protect a nearby dental clinic where tourists sometimes park without permission and have even been seen climbing on the roof to take pictures.

– Online bookings –

Record numbers of overseas tourists are coming to Japan, where monthly visitors exceeded three million for the first time in March and then again in April.

But as in other tourist hotspots, such as Venice — which recently launched a trial of entry fees for day visitors — the influx has not been universally welcomed.

In Japan’s ancient capital of Kyoto, locals have complained of tourists harassing the city’s famed geisha.

And hikers using the most popular route to climb Mount Fuji this summer will be charged 2,000 yen ($13) each, with entries capped at 4,000 to ease congestion.

A new online booking system for the mountain’s Yoshida trail opened on Monday to guarantee hikers entry through a new gate, although 1,000 places a day will be kept for day-of entries.

Mount Fuji is covered in snow most of the year, but during the July-September hiking season more than 220,000 visitors trudge up its steep, rocky slopes.

Many climb through the night to see the sunrise, and some attempt to reach the 3,776-metre (12,388-foot) summit without breaks and become sick or injured as a result.

Regional officials have raised safety and environmental concerns linked to overcrowding on the active volcano, a symbol of Japan and a once-peaceful pilgrimage site.

Residents near other popular photo spots in the region, including the so-called Fuji Dream Bridge, have also reportedly complained about overtourism in recent weeks.

One tour operator which offers day trips from Tokyo to the Mount Fuji area told AFP they are taking visitors to another Lawson store nearby where a similar view can be seen, but there are fewer nearby residents.

 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Tokyo:

With its millions of visitors every year and the buses, supply trucks, noodle shops and fridge magnets, Japan’s Mount Fuji is no longer the peaceful pilgrimage site it once was.

Now authorities have had enough, saying the number of hikers trekking up the world-famous volcano — night and day — is dangerous and an ecological embarrassment.

“Mount Fuji is screaming,” the governor of the local region said last week.

Hailing its religious importance and its inspiration to artists, in 2013 UNESCO added the “internationally recognized icon of Japan” to its World Heritage List.

But as has happened in places such as Bruges in Belgium or Rio de Janeiro’s Sugarloaf Mountain, the designation has been both a blessing and a curse.

Visitor numbers more than doubled between 2012 and 2019 to 5.1 million, and that’s just for Yamanashi prefecture, the main starting point.

Day and night

It’s not just during the day that a stream of people trudges through the black volcanic grit on their way up the 3,776-metre (12,388-foot) mountain.

At night, long lines of people — on their way up to see the sun rise in the morning — trek upwards with torches on their heads.

The main starting-off point is a car park that can only be reached by taxi or buses that take a couple of hours from Tokyo, around 100 kilometres (60 miles) away.

Greeting visitors is a complex of restaurants and shops selling souvenirs as well as snacks and drinks for walkers before they set off.

They are powered by diesel generators and the thousands of litres of water they use has to be brought up in lorries. Trucks also take all the rubbish down.

“I saw a lot of food waste and empty bottles of drinks lying around the hand-washing area of the toilet,” complained Japanese hiker Yuzuki Uemura, 28.

Dangers

Masatake Izumi, a local official, said the high numbers of people increased the risk of accidents.

Some people who climb at night “get hypothermia and have to be taken back to first aid stations”, he told AFP.

At least one person has died so far this season.

For an optional access fee of 1,000 yen ($6.80), visitors get a booklet in Japanese — there is a QR code for the English version — with some dos and don’ts.

But some don’t realise how tough the five-to-six-hour climb is to the top, where oxygen levels are lower and where the weather can change quickly.

“It’s almost winter up there, it’s really cold,” Rasyidah Hanan, a 30-year-old hiker from Malaysia, told AFP on her way down.

“People should be filtered a little bit because some people were not ready to climb Mount Fuji. They were like in really light clothes… Some of them really looked sick.”

Crowd control

As tourist numbers get back to pre-pandemic levels, it’s not only Mount Fuji whose returning crowds have authorities worried.

This week government ministers met to discuss measures to tackle what Kenji Hamamoto, a senior Japan Tourism Agency official, called “overcrowding and breaches of etiquette” across heavily touristed sites.

For Mount Fuji, authorities announced last month that they would impose crowd control measures for the first time if paths got too busy.

The announcement alone had an effect and in the end no such measures were taken, Izumi said.

Visitor numbers are expected to be down slightly this year from 2019, but in 2024 they could rise again as tourists — particularly from China — return.

Yamanashi’s governor Kotaro Nagasaki said last week Japan needed to take measures to ensure Mount Fuji did not lose its UNESCO designation.

One solution, he said, could be constructing a light rail system to replace the main road leading to the main starting point for hikers.

“We firmly believe that with regard to Mount Fuji tourism, a shift from a quantity approach to a quality one is essential,” Nagasaki said.

“I think that Mount Fuji is one of the things that makes Japan proud,” said Marina Someya, 28, a Japanese hiker.

“There are a lot of people, and lots of foreigners.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)