Mt Fuji begins charging on Japan’s most popular mountain walk

Last year saw over 220,000 climbers in the short 3-month season. Photo / Ryan Sq, Unsplash

Mt Fuji is one of the most recognisable volcanoes in the world, but from July pilgrims and tourists will be charged $22 to climb the sacred mountain.

Local authorities say they are trying to get on top of an overcrowding problem, with almost a quarter of a million people climbing it during the late summer season.

After 220,000 visitors last year in the three months between July and September - the mountain is struggling to cope with the volume of hikers, their rubbish and regular rescue callouts.

This year the Yoshida Trail will be capping visitors at just 4000. And charging climbers for the privilege.

As the most direct route from Tokyo, currently around 60 per cent of hikers take this route.

The draft plan to cap numbers and introduce a toll gate at Yoshida was revealed late last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported.

In December, Yamanashi Governor Kotaro Nagasaki said it would be in place for the beginning of the climbing season, July 1.

“This is a measure to alleviate congestion on the trail and previous surveys have shown that excessive crowding occurs near the summit.”

The measures are to deter 'bullet climbs' of Mt Fuji, which have resulted in several emergency callouts. Photo / Clement Souchet, Unsplash

The gate will be locked from 4pm to 2am every day. This measure is to deter poorly-planned speed walks or so called “bullet climbs” - which see tourists try to make the 3776m climb without breaks and often late into the night.

There were 3800 of these unorthodox climbs with some tourists reportedly making bonfires on the mountain, according to the Shimbun.

Last year also saw 61 rescue callouts by Shizuoka prefecture police for lost, poorly-prepared or sick walkers.

The new rules which were presented to the prefectural assembly last month were approved on Monday. The Y2000 ($22) charge will go toward maintenance and conservation.

Why is Bullet Climbing forbidden on Fuji?

Within sight of much of Tokyo and the there is a folkloric tradition that all good pilgrims should climb Mount Fuji’s 3776 metres.

Unfortunately in recent years this rite of passage has become more of a scramble, as tourists attempt to climb Mount Fuji in a day.

This has led to the rise of bullet climbing or ‘dangan tozan’ - climbing in a single day or through the night.

As one of the country’s three sacred mountains “Fuji-san” there are plenty of domestic as well as international mountain baggers who make the trip every year.

Those underestimating the time it takes for the climb are often the ones that are worst prepared for the undertaking.

Recently the Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures have published English language information to stop tourists attempting to climb through the night.

As well as dangers and increased difficulty of pathfinding, they warn that altitude sickness is more acute in climbers who have not slept properly, and they are also more prone to hypothermia.

The authorities advise tourists to break the night in mountain huts or take a guided tour to reduce risk to themselves and other climbers.