(Tokyo) Japanese authorities will set up an online reservation system for access to the most popular trail on the famous Mount Fuji in an effort to combat overcrowding.
The trails running along Japan’s highest peak are increasingly crowded during the summer season, raising fears of negative consequences for the environment.
In order to decongest the Yoshida Trail, the route most used by hikers, the Yamanashi department plans to cap the number of daily entries to Mount Fuji at 4,000 people, who will have to pay an entrance fee of 12 euros ($18).
An online reservation system will also be put in place. It will allow hikers to “plan in advance” their outing, Katsuhiro Iwama, a local government official in Yamanashi, told AFP.
Online reservations will open on May 20 for the July to September season. However, at least 1000 entries can be purchased each day on site.
Mount Fuji is covered in snow most of the year, but during the summer more than 220,000 visitors set out to attack this mountain, whose summit rises to 3776 meters.
PHOTO RICHARD A. BROOKS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
Foreign tourists also flock to the surrounding regions to photograph the summit of this mythical volcano, considered an emblem of Japan.
This massive influx is not always to the taste of local populations, who complain in particular about the waste left by tourists.
In Fujikawaguchiko, a small Japanese town near Mount Fuji, the local authorities decided to erect a high fence in order to obstruct a viewpoint particularly sought after by tourists and dissuade them from flocking.
PHOTO AKIKO OKAMOTO, REUTERS ARCHIVES
More than 3 million foreign visitors entered Japan in March, an all-time monthly record for the country, which long remained closed to international tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The problem of overtourism and its damage to the environment recently led Venice in Italy to charge 5 euros for entry to the city, a UNESCO world heritage site.