The Shizuoka Prefectural Government will spend the cash it raised last year from Mount Fuji hikers on six safety and conservation projects.
The prefecture introduced voluntary ¥1,000 payments for a short trial period on its three trails last year and raised ¥14.9 million.
About ¥4.7 million was allocated to a research project conducted this summer using portable GPS tracking devices to help monitor climbers during their ascent. The gadgets, rented to hikers, will gather data to help supervisors identify trail bottlenecks, said Hisao Kosaka, section chief of the prefectural government's Mount Fuji world heritage division.