A regular stream of tour buses arrive at a base station of Mt. Fuji in Japan on Saturday, September 9, unloading dozens of foreign travelers in front of souvenir stores and dining establishments.
Rather than the respect most Japanese would expect to see below a mountain regarded as holy and a source of pride for its flawlessly symmetrical appearance, the sight seems like something out of a theme park.
Facing Real Crisis
Mt. Fuji, located in both Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures in eastern Japan, has long been a popular destination for both domestic and international visitors.
According to Reuters, authorities in Japan have warned that an increase in the number of tourists visiting the country has led to dangerous levels of pollution and other stresses. As a result, they could have to resort to extreme measures like cutting down on the number of tourists by limiting access to the summit via a tram system that has not even been completed yet.
During a tour for foreign journalists on the last weekend before the trails shut for the year, Masatake Izumi, an official from Yamanashi prefecture, warned reporters that Mt. Fuji faces a real crisis. He stated, "It's uncontrollable and we fear that Mt. Fuji will soon become so unattractive, nobody would want to climb it."
UNESCO added Mt. Fuji as a World Heritage site a decade ago, which undoubtedly contributed to the mountain's growing fame. However, this designation was contingent upon Japan addressing issues of overpopulation, environmental damage from visitors, and repairing the artificial landscape, such as the enormous parking lots built to accommodate tourists.
Moreover, congestion has become much more of a problem. A whopping 4 million people stopped by the Fuji Subaru Line 5th Station this summer, a 50% increase over 2013.
Cleaning crews, local businesses, and volunteers may be working around the clock, but social media is still full of complaints about filthy restrooms and piles of trash along the trail.
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Authorities in Japan have also expressed concern about the increase in "bullet climbing," the practice of attempting to summit Mt. Fuji in time for dawn before returning the same day.
Police in Shizuoka prefecture reported a total of 61 calls for assistance this year, a 50% increase from the previous year. Of them, 24 were from foreigners visiting Japan. An official indicated that the majority of these people were unprepared and either hypothermic or experiencing altitude sickness.
The possibility of regulations was raised by local tourist Jun Shibazaki. "Any Japanese person would want to climb Mt. Fuji at least once in their life. But it's so crowded. Limited entry might be something we have to live with."
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