Photo/Illutration Mount Fuji in 2004 seen from Minobu, Yamanashi Prefecture (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

KOFU--The Yamanashi prefectural government announced on Dec. 20 a plan to cap the number of Mount Fuji climbers at 4,000 per day and set up a gate at the fifth station on the Yoshida trail.

Officials hope that the measure will alleviate crowding near the summit caused by the recent trend of “bullet climbing,” where trekkers start their ascent at night to reach the summit before sunrise and then descend without staying in huts, which is considered dangerous.

The plan is to restrict entry to the mountain from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. and charge a toll.

The officials hope to implement the plan starting next summer after coordinating with locals.

As the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions had been lifted, climbers rushed to Japan’s tallest mountain at 3,776 meters in elevation during this year’s climbing season.

There have been growing requests from alarmed local authorities and mountain lodge officials for the prefectural government to disclose the details of the regulations as soon as possible for the next climbing season, which will start on July 1.

Yamanashi Governor Kotaro Nagasaki said that he will submit a draft of the ordinance to the prefectural assembly in February, which will serve as the basis for the new mountain climbing regulations.

Regarding the 4,000-climber limit, he said, “This is a measure to alleviate congestion on the trail and previous surveys have shown that excessive crowding occurs near the summit when the number of climbers exceeds 4,000.”

According to the proposed regulations, a gate will be installed near the fifth station, which is the end point of the Fuji Subaru Line toll road on the prefectural side.

To prevent bullet climbers, the gate will be closed from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. every day during the climbing season.

The maximum number of climbers will be restricted to 4,000 per day and once that limit has been reached, the gate will be closed, even before 4 p.m.

However, lodge guests will be exempt from the regulations in both cases.

Currently, climbers who hike from the mountain’s fifth station onward are asked to donate 1,000 yen ($7) toward maintenance and conservation. However, some climbers don’t pay, since doing so is only voluntary.

Under the proposed regulations, a toll fee would be collected from gate passers.

The proposed regulations also require that trail safety guides and tour guides have the authority to instruct climbers who are causing a nuisance, and that group climbers must be accompanied by a guide with such authority.

In addition, shelter facilities will be installed to protect climbers from volcanic cinders and falling rocks on the downhill trail, where there are currently no emergency shelter facilities such as mountain lodges.

The necessary expenses for these updates, including trail maintenance, will be calculated, and the price of the entry toll will be set based on expenses.

According to prefectural officials, the number of climbers exceeded 4,000 on five occasions this summer (measured at the sixth station).

The trail is a prefectural-managed road. Until now, Nagasaki had indicated that regulation would be difficult due to the restrictions of the Road Law.

For this reason, the prefectural government will make an area of approximately 600 meters from the gate exempt from the application of the Road Law, so that the area can be managed as a “facility” rather than as a road.

Over-tourism has been recognized as a problem on Mount Fuji, causing Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures, the environment ministry and others to form a council to discuss countermeasures.

The number of climbers this summer was 221,322, returning to pre-pandemic levels. Of these, 137,236 climbers were on the Yoshida trail, the most in any year, including trails on the Shizuoka side.

There were about 3,800 bullet climbers on Mount Fuji this summer, and some were seen sleeping on the open mountainside and making bonfires.

Nagasaki indicated that he plans to improve the Yoshida trail up to the fifth station to disperse climbers.

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