Price to climb Mt Fuji doubles from Yamanashi side, Shizuoka side to charge tolls for first time.

Rapidly rising prices have become an unpleasant part of life in Japan, and now we can add another increase to things like train tickets, clothing, and groceries: the cost to climb Mt. Fuji.

Until fairly recently, Mt. Fuji was free to climb, as is the case with the vast majority of hiking trails in Japan. There was a requested donation of 1,000 yen (US$6.80) for those ascending Japan’s tallest mountain, but this was collected on a purely voluntary basis.

At the beginning of the permitted summer climbing season in 2024, though, Yamanashi Prefecture, one of the two prefectures which Mt. Fuji straddles, began charging a 2,000-yen toll to use its trail, while also continuing to request the 1,000-yen donation. Gates were set up at the trailhead to enforce the system, which also barred anyone from entering the trail between 4 p.m. and 3 a.m. unless they made a reservation to stay at one of the mountain huts along the trail, effectively ending the option of starting your hike in the evening, trekking through the night and watching the sunrise from the peak of Mt. Fuji before heading back down.

Shizuoka, the other prefecture from which Mt. Fuji can be climbed, has not previously charged for access to the mountain, but that’s going to change this summer. On March 17, the last day of the February session of the Shizuoka Prefectural Assembly, legislators voted to enact a 4,000-yen toll for those hiking Shizuoka’s Fuji trails as of this summer. The framework is very similar to Yamanashi’s, with an even more restrictive time table for when the gates will be closed; no one is allowed to enter the trail between 2 p.m. and 3 a.m. without a mountain hut reservation. In addition, Shizuoka is planning to require hikers to complete a pre-hike educational session with videos on environmental protection and safety before starting their ascent. Public broadcaster NHK reports that hikers will also have to pass a test before being allowed on the trail, though ostensibly the questions would be focused on checking for comprehension of the provided safety and environmental explanations, not something that requires advance study prior to arriving at the trailhead.

Earlier this month the Yamanashi Prefectural Assembly also passed a measure to double its trail toll, so now it will cost 4,000 yen to hike Mt. Fuji, regardless of which prefecture you’re starting from, through both Shizuoka and Yamanashi are doing away with their 1,000-yen donation requests. It’s unclear if making the ascent from one prefecture and then coming down a different trail into the other would require two separate tolls payments, or if there’s some sort of reciprocal agreement between the two jurisdictions.

Unlike rising prices of consumer goods, inflation isn’t really to blame for the increased cost to climb Fuji. Instead the factors at play appear to be efforts to reduce crowding on the trails and increase safety, though it’s also a mathematical fact that the tolls will bring in a substantial amount of revenue for the prefectural governments.

Climbing Mt. Fuji is something that’s on a lot of inbound foreign travelers itineraries, and with the currency exchange rate continuing to be in their favor the tolls aren’t likely to steer too many of them away. For domestic travelers, though, 4,000 yen per person is probably going to feel pretty steep.

Source: SBS News via Livedoor News via Hachima Kiko, NHK News Web
Top image: Wikipedia/Gryffindor (edited by SoraNews24)
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