After local authorities passed a bill, from this summer tourists trying to hike any of Mount Fuji's four main trails will have to pay an entrance fee of 4,000 yen (US$27).

The record influx of foreign tourists to Japan has sparked concern about overcrowding on the country's highest mountain, which was once a peaceful place of pilgrimage.

Last year, the Yamanashi district, where Mount Fuji is located, introduced an entrance fee of 2,000 yen ($14) plus an optional donation for the active volcano's most popular hiking route, the Yoshida Trail.

Authorities, concerned about safety and environmental damage on Mount Fuji's majestic slopes, have also introduced a limit on daily visits and online reservations for this trail.

The fee for the Yoshida trail will be doubled for this year's climbing season from July to September, while the neighboring Shizuoka region passed a bill that will also charge 4,000 yen for its three trails, which were previously free.

Thanks in part to the new restrictions, the number of climbers who have ascended Mount Fuji has fallen from 221,322 in 2023 to 204,316 last year, according to data from the Ministry of the Environment.

Although the number of climbers continues to eclipse pre-pandemic levels, "200,000 tourists is still huge," Natsuko Sodeyama, a Shizuoka Prefecture official, told AFP.

"There is no other mountain in Japan that attracts so many people in just over two months. So some restrictions are needed to ensure their safety," he added.

Mount Fuji is covered in snow for most of the year, but during the summer tourist season many people climb its steep rocky slopes at night to see the sunrise.

The symmetrical mountain is immortalized in countless works of art, including Hokusai's "Great Wave." It last erupted about 300 years ago. | BGNES