With an increasing number of foreign tourists enjoying mountaineering and winter sports, the Hokkaido Prefectural Police have started airing announcements on mountain precautions in English and Chinese as well as Japanese.
Earlier this month at Sugatami Station, a cable car stop at the fifth station of Mount Asahidake, most of the passengers for the day's first run were foreign tourists. Station announcements calling on visitors to check climbing routes and weather conditions before departure, and make sure to carry items such as a GPS-equipped device, a compass and a smartphone with them, were made in three languages.
According to the town of Higashikawa, where Asahidake is located, the area hosted a total of 13,122 foreign visitors in fiscal 2016 — 2.3 times the number seen five years ago.