FUJI-YOSHIDA, Yamanashi Prefecture--Local authorities have failed to take effective measures to curb the hordes of hikers climbing Mount Fuji, which was named a World Heritage site a decade ago, despite a formal recommendation from UNESCO advisers.

They also have rushed to take safety measures in the event of a sudden eruption as occurred on Mount Ontake in 2014. 

On June 18, ahead of the start of climbing season in July, busloads of tourists, including many from abroad, arrived at the fifth station of Mount Fuji here along the Fuji Subaru Line toll road.

The 3,776-meter-high mountain, Japan’s tallest peak, attracted more than 200,000 tourists annually before the novel coronavirus pandemic, which started three years ago.

Mountain huts have already been fully booked for climbing season partly because admissions are still limited as part of COVID-19 restrictions.

The International Council on Monuments and Sites, UNESCO’s advisory organ known as ICOMOS, called for “visitor management,” such as reducing the number of hikers, when Mount Fuji was added to UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage list on June 22, 2013.

But local authorities have been unable to introduce a mandatory admission fee for hikers.

Currently, hikers are only asked to voluntarily pay 1,000 yen ($7.05), in principle, toward the environmental preservation of the mountain.

The system was fully introduced in 2014 by the Fujisan World Cultural Heritage Council, which is organized by the Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectural governments and other entities.

“We must start collecting a mandatory charge to ensure safety and security, as well as comfort, in climbing,” said Shigeru Horiuchi, mayor of Fuji-Yoshida, which hosts the entry point of the Yoshida trail to the mountaintop.

However, skeptics said compulsory payments would adversely affect the local economy.

An expert panel under the Fujisan World Cultural Heritage Council in 2021 began considering collecting an admission fee in the form of a special tax for a specific purpose as well as a commission from those entering a designated area on Mount Fuji.

But officials decided not to introduce the system from this summer, saying certain issues remain to be resolved.

A challenge that has taken on a greater urgency than before the World Heritage listing is disaster prevention at Mount Fuji, an active volcano.

The Sept. 27, 2014, eruption of Mount Ontake, which straddles Nagano and Gifu prefectures, brought home the risk of a volcanic eruption. The sudden eruption left 58 climbers dead and five missing. 

Yamanashi Prefecture and Fuji-Yoshida city made 2,500 helmets available at Mount Fuji's fifth station and along climbing trails the following year. The safety guidance center at the sixth station began renting helmets in 2017.

A new basic evacuation plan was compiled in March by the Mount Fuji volcano disaster management conference, which comprises Yamanashi, Shizuoka and Kanagawa prefectures, the central government and other entities.

Under the plan, hikers and others at the fifth station and above will be told to descend the mountain as soon as signs of an eruption are detected.

Previously, an advisory for a descent was planned only after the volcanic alert level is raised to 3, which calls for no entry to areas around the mountain.

In May, about 20 people working at mountain huts and stores at the fifth station on the Yoshida trail set up a voluntary fire company called Fujisan-tai to help hikers evacuate in the event of disasters, such as eruptions.

After the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, those from mountain huts and stores formed a voluntary disaster prevention council and conducted evacuation drills.

In 2015, a drill started based on the scenario that Mount Fuji erupted. This year, the drill was held for the first time in four years and in accordance with the new basic evacuation plan.

Shoichi Osano, who heads both the disaster prevention council and the fire company, said the eruption of Mount Ontake was an eye-opener.

“Volcanic plumes from Mount Ontake could be seen even from here,” said Osano, 56. “We were confronted in an unmistakable manner by the reality that Mount Fuji could erupt at any time.

“We want to repeatedly hold effective training,” he said.

(This article was written by Takuya Ikeda and Koichi Tokonami.)