Japan’s Mount Fuji ‘in actual disaster’ – officers

The authorities warn of “overtourism” on the nation’s highest peak

Mount Fuji, one in every of Japan’s sacred mountains and a preferred pilgrimage web site, may develop into much less enticing if the variety of vacationers isn’t introduced below management, the native authorities warn.

“Fuji is screaming in pain. We can’t just wait for improvement,” Masatake Izumi, a Yamanashi prefectural authorities official, advised CNN throughout a tour for international media on Saturday, including that “overtourism” must be tackled urgently. 

Izumi was quoted by Reuters as saying that “Fuji faces a real crisis” due to the “uncontrollable” stream of vacationers. “We fear that Mount Fuji will soon become so unattractive, nobody would want to climb it,” he stated. 

According to authorities officers, the post-Covid tourism growth has introduced hundreds of hikers to the mountain, inflicting environmental harm and putting further strain on the primary support companies. 

Despite the introduction of a marketing campaign urging guests to not litter, with volunteers eradicating tons of trash annually, each hikers and caretakers complain about overcrowding and the piles of litter left alongside the trail.

Mount Fuji ranger Miho Sakurai advised reporters that there are “way too many people on Mount Fuji at the moment,” together with many inexperienced “first timers,” usually underdressed, poorly outfitted, and vulnerable to hypothermia or altitude illness. As a end result, rescue requests have elevated by 50% from final yr and one individual died in April in a climbing accident. 

An lively volcano identified for its picturesque snowcap and one in every of Japan’s nationwide symbols, the mountain was acknowledged as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage web site in 2013. The variety of guests to Fuji greater than doubled between 2012 and 2019 to five.1 million, in keeping with CNA news company.

This week, authorities officers met to debate “overcrowding and breaches of etiquette” throughout high-traffic vacationer spots, with Yamanashi Governor Kotaro Nagasaki proposing the development of a light-weight railway to manage the variety of individuals accessing the positioning. 

“We need a shift from quantity to quality when it comes to tourism on Mount Fuji,” Nagasaki stated. A neighborhood ranger referred to as the prospect of Mount Fuji shedding its heritage standing “devastating.”