Climbers to pay $13 fee on popular Mount Fuji trail

Hikers using the most popular route to climb Japan's Mount Fuji will be charged $13 each from July, with numbers capped to ease congestion and improve safety, a regional official said Tuesday.

Increasingly large crowds are scaling Japan's highest mountain, which is covered in snow most of the year but draws more than 220,000 visitors each July-September climbing period.

From July 1, an entry fee of 2,000 yen ($13) will be charged per person to ascend the famous volcano's Yoshida Trail.

Daily entries to the trail will be capped at 4,000 people, with entry banned between 4:00 pm and 2:00 am, under an ordinance approved Monday by Yamanashi region.

"After Covid restrictions were lifted, we started seeing more people. We want them to dress appropriately for the mountain and be well prepared," Toshiaki Kasai, an official at the local government, told AFP.

"We will ask visitors to monitor social media for up-to-date information about the daily visitor count," he added.

Each summer, reports in Japanese media describe tourists climbing Mount Fuji with insufficient mountaineering equipment.

Some sleep on the trail or start fires for heat, while many attempt to reach the 3,776-metre (12,388-foot) summit without breaks and become sick or injured as a result.

The active volcano has three other main routes that will remain free to climb.

But the Yoshida Trail -- accessed from Tokyo relatively easily -- is the preferred choice for most holidaymakers, with around 60 percent of climbers choosing that route, according to official data.

Mount Fuji is about two hours from central Tokyo by train and can be seen for miles around.

The mountain has been immortalised in countless Japanese artworks, including Hokusai's world-famous "Great Wave".