Mt. Fuji's climbing season started Monday when one of the four main hiking trails opened, with local authorities for the first time charging entrance fees and restricting numbers of climbers to ease congestion.
Yamanashi Prefecture now accepts a maximum of 4,000 climbers per day on the Yoshida Trail, the most commonly used route up the 3,776-meter mountain, and charges 2,000 yen ($12). The route to the summit is expected to remain open through Sept. 10.
A gate has been set up at the 5th station to close the trail between 4 p.m. and 3 a.m. to anyone without a prior overnight reservation in a mountainside hut.
The move was made to deter "bullet climbing," or the attempt to reach the summit and return without sleeping mid-climb.
According to the city of Fujiyoshida in Yamanashi Prefecture, around 160,000 people used the Yoshida Trail last year.
Designated as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site in 2013, Japan's highest peak straddling Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures is a popular tourist destination.
The new measures address the problem of congestion caused by a surge in the number of climbers.
"We are extremely worried about a kind of domino effect accident," said Yamanashi Gov. Kotaro Nagasaki at a press conference in June ahead of the start of the climbing season.
The official climbing season of the other three trails on the Shizuoka Prefecture side is scheduled to begin on July 10.
The weather disappointed climbers on the first day of the season, with the mountain shrouded in heavy cloud.
"It's too bad. We couldn't see (the sunrise). But I look forward to the next time," said Teruyo Kurahara, a 53-year-old English teacher who was climbing with her friends.
The bad weather also left more than 100 vehicles lined up at the entrance of the Fuji Subaru Line, as the toll road to the 5th station was closed until 9 a.m. due to strong winds.
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