The Yamanashi Prefectural Assembly passed an ordinance on Monday to collect entry fees of ¥2,000 ($13) per head from people climbing Mount Fuji from the Yamanashi side.
A gate will be installed at the fifth station, or the entrance to the Yoshida Trail, on the Yamanashi side of 3,776-meter Mount Fuji, where fees will be collected from the July 1 start of this year's climbing season. The move is aimed at controlling congestion near the mountain's summit.
Climbers will have to budget up to ¥3,000 each, including ¥1,000 that they are asked to pay voluntarily for the conservation of the mountain, which is on UNESCO's list of World Heritage sites.
During the 2024 season, until mid-September, the gate will be closed from 4 p.m. until 3 a.m. the following day. Entry restrictions will also be imposed if the daily number of climbers exceeds 4,000. Those staying at mountain huts will be exempted from these restrictions.
The entry fees will be used to set up shelters to protect climbers from rocks that might be ejected from the volcanic mountain during eruptions and falling rocks, as well as to deploy observers to warn people who are behaving badly.
Mount Fuji, which straddles Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures, drew a total of about 221,000 climbers last summer, roughly the same level as in 2019, according to the Environment Ministry. Of them, about 60% used the Yoshida Trail. There are three trails on the Shizuoka side: Subashiri, Gotemba and Fujinomiya.
Some people attempt to climb the mountain without taking a sufficient break in a hut, while others have been seen behaving inappropriately, such as by taking naps in sleeping bags along trails.