Photo/Illutration Climbers at the seventh station of Mount Fuji enjoy the rising sun at around 4:30 a.m. on July 1. (Shota Tomonaga)

The climbing season on Mount Fuji officially kicked off July 1 with zero restrictions that had been in place for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Yoshida trail from the Yamanashi Prefecture side of the 3,776-meter high mountain opened from the fifth station, or roughly halfway up, meaning an ordinary climber could expect to take several hours to reach the top on the narrow winding path.

Rain and strong winds buffeted Mount Fuji from the afternoon of June 30 until after midnight, but at around the time the trail opened for the climbing season, clouds had thinned out from about the seventh station, leading to glimpses of the rising sun.

Those who were resting at mountain huts rushed out to observe the sunrise.

One climber from Osaka Prefecture said she would spend another night at a mountain hut after reaching the summit in hopes the next sunrise would herald an even more beautiful start to the day.

The three other trails--the Subashiri, Gotenba and Fujinomiya trails on the Shizuoka Prefecture side--are expected to open on July 10.

With the lifting of restrictions on the number of climbers, foot traffic on the mountain is expected to return to pre-COVID-19 levels.

But many mountain huts are fairly small, and operators are worried about the spread of infections. That means most are booked solid for this year’s climbing season that ends on Sept. 10.

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