All of Mt. Fuji’s four hiking trails are now open, and all of them have new rules this year.

This article has been updated to correct the opening date for the Shizuoka trails. SoraNews24 apologizes for the error.

As we flip the calendar over to July, Mt. Fuji is finally open. Though Japan’s tallest mountain, of course, sits on the border between Yamanashi and Shizuoka Prefectures all year long, the hiking trails that lead to the upper half of the mountain are closed between early autumn and early summer.

As of July 1, though, Yamanashi’s Yoshida Trail is open, and Shizuoka’s Fujinomiya, Gotemba, and Subashiri Trails will be open from July 10. However, you can’t just roll up to Mt. Fuji and mosey on up to the top anymore, as all four of them now require hikers to make a reservation and pay an admission fee.

In 2024, the Yamanashi Prefectural Government began charging 2,000 yen (US$14) per person to use the Yoshida Trail. This summer, they’ve doubled the fee, raising it to 4,000 yen per person, and all three of the Shizuoka trails are charging the same fee as well. In addition, the entry gates will be closed, and the trails off-limits, between 2 p.m. and 3 a.m. unless you’ve also made a reservation to stay at one of the mountain huts along the way, as part of an effort to prevent visitors from ascending on the darkened trails though the night, watching the sunrise at the summit, and then attempting to come back down without having gotten any sleep during the round-trip route.

For those looking to hike Yamanashi’s Yoshida Trail, detailed terms and conditions can be found online (in English) here and reservations available here. Things are a bit more complex for Shizuoka’s trio of trails. The full set of steps can be found online here, but the gist is that you’ll need to install the Shizuoka Fuji Navi App on your phone and make your reservation through it. The Shizuoka trails also require all hikers to pass a test regarding hiking safety and etiquette. The test can be completed through the app, and failing to do so will require you to take it on-site before the staff will let you onto the trail, which could delay your hiking start time.

▼ A sample from the Shizuoka Mt. Fuji pre-hike test

The official Mt. Fuji Climbing website says that same-day reservations can be made for the Yoshida Trail, but you’ll also need to take into account that the Yoshida Trail stops taking reservations once it reaches its cap of 4,000 people per day. The Shizuoka trails have no specified pre-set daily hiker limit, but it’s unclear if same-day reservations are always guaranteed to be available.

Note that the 4,000-yen fee is strictly for use of the trails, so if you’re planning to spend the night in a mountain hut, you’ll need to make, and pay for, that reservation separately. With the trails closed to non-hut guests between 2 p.m. and 3 a.m., staying in one is really the only feasible way to see the sunrise from the top of Fuji, as there’s not enough time to make your way straight from the trailhead to the top before dawn, and the official climbing site has links for recognized hut operators here.

All four trails will be open through September 10.

Source: Official Web Site for Climbing Mt. Fuji (1, 2, 3)
Top image: Pakutaso (edited by SoraNews24)
Insert images: Official Web Site for Climbing Mt. Fuji
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