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Mount Fuji‘s Yoshida Trail, the most-used path to the summit, will begin charging hikers an entrance fee starting in the next hiking season.
The announcement was made by Yamanashi Gov. Kotaro Nagasaki, with Japan Times reporting that hikers will need to pay a required entrance fee of ¥2,000 JPY (approximately $13 USD) on top of the voluntary ¥1,000 JPY (approximately $6 USD) conservation fee that is used to maintain Mount Fuji. The entrance fee will help control foot traffic and finance additional safety measures, such as the construction of a safety shelter in the event of an eruption. Hikers will need to pay at the trail’s fifth station by the mountain’s Yamanashi Prefecture area.
Mount Fuji has experienced an increase in the dangerous practice of bullet climbing, which sees hikers attempt to reach the summit in time for sunrise without resting overnight. To combat this, it was announced in December 2023 that the trail will be closed from 4:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. during the 2024 climbing season (July 1 to September 10) to the hikers who do not have pre-reserved stays on the mountain. A limit of 4,000 hikers per day will also be imposed.
