Mount Fuji is in trouble.

Written By Trips matter
 

IMAGE VIA MARUFISH

 

Who ever thought a heritage sight in a peaceful country like Japan is a nightmare to travel to. Today, it’s troubled by human traffic jams, foothills littered with garbage and inappropriately attired hikers.

“There are definitely too many people on the mountain at the moment; the numbers are much higher than before,” says Sakurai, a veteran ranger who has patrolled the slopes of Mount Fuji for the past seven years.

The number of visitors to the mountain’s popular fifth hiking station has more than doubled from two million in 2012 to over five million visitors in 2019, according to the Yamanashi prefectural government.

And since the annual climbing season opened just a couple of months ago in July, around 65,000 hikers have reached the summit, an increase of 17% from 2019.

Officials say a post-Covid tourism boom has brought thousands more to the mountain, which straddles Japan’s Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures. And as Mount Fuji marks the 10th anniversary of its UNESCO designation this year, they fear the environmental situation has reached a “critical point.”

“Overtourism – and all the subsequent consequences like rubbish, rising CO2 emissions and reckless hikers – is the biggest problem facing Mount Fuji,” says Masatake Izumi, a Yamanashi prefectural government official and expert on the famed peak.

Yasuyoshi Okada, the president of ICOMOS Japan, says that “to preserve the sacredness” of Mount Fuji and its value as a World Heritage site, “over-tourism must be addressed.”

“Fuji-san is screaming out in pain. We can’t just wait for improvement; we need to tackle overtourism now,” he says.

If you’re interested in hiking responsibly and in peace, give us a shout. Taeko is an expert guide and she’ll show you the best trails.

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https://edition.cnn.com/travel/mount-fuji-overtourism-intl-hnk/index.html

Trips matter