‘A bit scary’: as hikers flock to Japan’s Mount Fuji, fears of climbing accidents grow

The mayor of one town at the base of the 3,776-metre-tall mountain has proposed limiting the number of people who attempt overnight ascents of the peak in an effort to safeguard hikers and not overwhelm facilities on the trek, while the owner of one mountain hut has told This Week in Asia that he has stopped taking bookings for overnight stays.

Hiroyuki Ikeda, the owner of the Ikeda-Kan hut at the eighth station on the Fujinomiya route to the summit, said, “The situation is getting a bit scary because so many people want to climb the mountain this summer. I can foresee lots of problems and places where there could be trouble.”

In a typical year, around 300,000 people ascend Mount Fuji during the climbing season, which this year will end on September 10. That number contracted dramatically in recent years as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, with the owners of mountain huts limiting operations or shutting down altogether. In addition, there have been virtually no foreign tourists in Japan for the last two summers.

That has changed, however, with foreign visitors flocking back to Japan and many putting an ascent of Mount Fuji on the top of their wish list. Similarly, Japanese who have put off an attempt now feel that the opportunity has arrived.

This year marks a decade since Mount Fuji was granted Unesco World Heritage status, which could also explain the growing enthusiasm for scaling the iconic peak.

Local authorities are bracing themselves for the coming climbing season, with Shigeru Horiuchi, the mayor of the town of Fujiyoshida, appealing for help from the Yamanashi prefectural government.

“We have to consider limiting the number of climbers on the mountain,” Horiuchi said in mid-May.