Photo/Illutration Mount Fuji in January 2018 (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

A preliminary plan to require people to pay an entry fee to climb Mount Fuji was approved by a Fujisan World Cultural Heritage Council working group on March 15 in an online meeting.

Currently, climbers who hike up from the mountain's Fifth Station onward are asked to pay a 1,000-yen ($9) maintenance and conservation fee. But some don't pay, since doing so is only voluntary.

To solve the unfair situation, the working group, consisting of Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectural officials tasked to deal with the issue, agreed to work toward making the entry fee for climbers mandatory in February. 

Under the plan, visitors must make a reservation to enter certain areas of Mount Fuji to maintain the universal values of the World Heritage site. 

Visitors will be required to pay an entry fee, which covers handling fees and special taxes for specific purposes.

Officials of the prefectural governments will discuss challenges for implementing the new system.

The group also approved a draft of an impact assessment for World Heritage, which makes an advance assessment of development projects in the surrounding area.

If the draft is approved at a meeting of the council later this month, the assessment will be in operation starting from April.

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