These heading to Mount Fuji later this yr to climb the enduring mountain might be shelling out a bit extra money.
Japanese authorities introduced final week that they are introducing a roughly $27 (4,000 yen) entry payment for all 4 of Mount Fuji’s fundamental trails — doubling the payment on a type of routes — for this yr’s climbing season, which runs from early July to early September.
Officers in Yamanashi Prefecture began charging a compulsory payment of two,000 yen final yr to enter Mount Fuji on the Yoshida Path, the mountain’s hottest route. Authorities additionally applied a day by day cap of 4,000 hikers on the Yoshida Path.
In the meantime, Shizuoka Prefecture will implement entry charges for Mount Fuji’s different three trails — Fujinomiya, Subashiri, and Gotemba — which had been beforehand free. Skift reported final November that the Shizuoka Prefectural Authorities was contemplating charging climbers 3,000 yen ($20) to five,000 yen ($33) as a part of its technique to restrict overcrowding and supply a safer setting for hikers.
Mount Fuji attracted 204,316 hikers in 2024, down from 221,322 the earlier yr, in keeping with information from Japan’s Ministry of the Setting. Nonetheless, the quantity of site visitors Mount Fuji noticed final yr remains to be regarding to Japanese authorities.
“There isn’t any different mountain in Japan that pulls that many individuals within the span of simply over two months. So some restrictions are essential to make sure their security,” mentioned Natsuko Sodeyama, a Shizuoka prefecture official.
Japan’s Different Measures to Deal with Overtourism
Japan’s current strikes to make climbing Mount Fuji dearer are a part of its efforts to raised handle its tourism growth. A report 36.9 million vacationers visited final yr, a 15.6% improve from the earlier report of 31.9 million in 2019.
Japanese officers accepted lodging taxes in 9 cities and two prefectures final Friday that can go into impact this fall, income from which might be used to assist the tourism trade and deal with overtourism. Kyoto’s municipal authorities introduced earlier this yr its proposal to boost lodge lodging taxes to as a lot as 10,000 yen ($66) subsequent March.
And the nationwide authorities can also be debating whether or not to enact a fivefold improve on the tax it imposes on departing vacationers — from 1,000 to five,000 yen — to assist fund initiatives to sort out overtourism.
