bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

paywallTypes

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

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 recognised 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.
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 queues 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 100km 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 handwashing area of the toilet,” complained Japanese hiker Yuzuki Uemura, 28.
Mount Fuji eruption ‘could cripple Tokyo’s transport links in three hours’
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 said.
At least one person has died so far this season.
For an optional access fee of 1,000 yen (US$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”, said Rasyidah Hanan, a 30-year-old hiker from Malaysia, 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”.


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”.


Dead rodent in miso soup at Japan restaurant chain Sukiya drags down stock price

Hong Kong stocks fluctuate as looming Trump tariffs keep investors on the sidelines

What is 6G and why is China racing ahead of US and Europe with the technology?

Only a global ‘de-risking’ from the US can stop Trump’s trade war

Japan

Japan’s had enough extreme tourism on famous volcano: ‘Mount Fuji is screaming’

Mount Fuji seen from Enoshima island, in Fujisawa, south of Tokyo, Japan. Photo: Reuters

Crowds of people walk down from the summit of Mount Fuji. Photo: AFP

Visitors resting at the fifth stage on the slopes of Mount Fuji, Japan’s highest peak at 3,776 metres. Photo: AFP

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

An aerial view of Mount Fuji, Japan’s highest mountain at 3,776 metres, from the window of a passenger jet on April 13, 2023. Photo: AFP

A hiker reaching the summit of Mount Fuji in July 2021. Photo: AFP

A man with a headlamp climbs to the summit of Mount Fuji in August 2019. Photo: AP

People have their photographs taken in front of Japan’s Mount Fuji in Gotemba city, Shizuoka prefecture. Photo: AFP

A group of hikers climb to the top of Mount Fuji just before sunrise. Overnight climbing is being discouraged as it increases the risks of accidents and altitude sickness because of exhaustion. Photo: AP

String of earthquakes in Japan raises fears ‘the Big One’ is about to hit

A photo taken on April 11, 2020,  shows Aso Ohashi bridge under reconstruction in the Kumamoto prefecture village of Minamiaso in southwestern Japan, which was brought down by a massive earthquake-triggered landslide in 2016. Photo: Kyodo

In this photo taken on March 15, 2011, a Japanese survivor of the Fukushima earthquake and tsunami rides his bicycle through the levelled city of Minamisanriku, Miyagi prefecture, Japan. Photo: AP

Books fallen from bookshelves are seen in the Shinchi town library in Fukushima on February 15, 2021, after a 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck off Japan’s east coast. Photo: AFP

When green isn’t good: Mount Fuji’s reforestation linked to global warming

Mount Fuji looms over Lake Kawaguchi, about 100km west of Tokyo. Photo: EPA-EFE

Mount Fuji. Photo: Neil Newman

Mount Fuji: 6 of the best sights on a 2-day self-drive road trip - from waterfalls, forests and caves to shrines to the cherry blossom princess

Drone shot of Mount Fuji and Lake Kawaguchi&#xA;&#xA;CREDIT: Getty Images&#xA;

Mount Fuji from the southwest, framed by trees in autumn colours - one of the highlights of self-drive road trip around the extinct volcano. Go in spring and the forests are a verdant green, while in winter they’ll be cloaked in snow. Photo: Julian Ryall

Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine. Photo: Julian Ryall

The Shiraito Falls in the foothills of Mt Fuji, Japan. Photo: Julian Ryall

Oshino Hakkai village has eight ponds fed by meltwater from Mt Fuji. Photo: Julian Ryall

Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine is one of 1,300 Asama shrines rooted in animistic worship of volcanoes. Photo: Julian Ryall

Mount Fuji, with Lake Kawaguchi in the foreground. Photo: Getty Images

The Sea of Trees (Aokigahara), in the foothills of Mt Fuji, Japan. Photo: Julian Ryall

The entrance to the Narusawa Hyoketsu ice cave. Photo: Julian Ryall

The Fuji Speedway Hotel with its motor racing track. Photo: Hyatt

‘Bullet climbing’ crisis on the cards at Mount Fuji with Japan struggling to accommodate all the tourists flocking to the country

Climbers hike up Mount Fuji, Japan’s highest peak. Congestion is common on trails during the summer climbing season, but could be worse than ever in 2023. Climbers typically rest in mountain huts, but demand for beds will exceed supply this year, part of a general accommodation crunch in Japan. Photo: Chris McGrath/Getty Images

A cruise liner moored at the passenger terminal in Amsterdam. Photo: Shutterstock

Footballer Lionel Messi promotes Hard Rock Cafe’s Messi Chicken Sandwich. Photo: Hard Rock Cafe

The Messi Chicken Sandwich is a “Milanese style” burger filled with chicken breast topped with melted provolone cheese, arugula, tomato and a herbed aioli. Photo: Hard Rock Cafe

News

Asia

East Asia

Authorities say the number of hikers trekking up the once-peaceful site – night and day – is dangerous and an ecological embarrassment
Crowd control measures were considered to ensure the mountain doesn’t lose its Unesco designation, given for its religious importance and inspiration to artists


Authorities say the number of hikers trekking up the once-peaceful site – night and day – is dangerous and an ecological embarrassment for the mountain, which is a Unesco designation recognised for its religious importance and inspiration to artists.


Tourism

Asia travel

Environment