TOKYO, March 5, 2024 (AFP) - Hikers using the most popular route to climb

Japan's Mount Fuji will be charged $13 each from July, with numbers capped to
ease congestion and improve safety, a regional official said Tuesday.

Increasingly large crowds are scaling Japan's highest mountain, which is
covered in snow most of the year but draws more than 220,000 visitors each
July-September climbing period.

From July 1, an entry fee of 2,000 yen ($13) will be charged per person to
ascend the famous volcano's Yoshida Trail.

Daily entries to the trail will be capped at 4,000 people, with entry banned
between 4:00 pm and 2:00 am, under an ordinance approved Monday by Yamanashi
region.

"After Covid restrictions were lifted, we started seeing more people. We want
them to dress appropriately for the mountain and be well prepared," Toshiaki
Kasai, an official at the local government, told AFP.

"We will ask visitors to monitor social media for up-to-date information
about the daily visitor count," he added.

Each summer, reports in Japanese media describe tourists climbing Mount Fuji
with insufficient mountaineering equipment.

Some sleep on the trail or start fires for heat, while many attempt to reach
the 3,776-metre (12,388-foot) summit without breaks and become sick or
injured as a result.

The active volcano has three other main routes that will remain free to
climb.

But the Yoshida Trail -- accessed from Tokyo relatively easily -- is the
preferred choice for most holidaymakers, with around 60 percent of climbers
choosing that route, according to official data.

Mount Fuji is about two hours from central Tokyo by train and can be seen for
miles around.

The mountain has been immortalised in countless Japanese artworks, including
Hokusai's world-famous "Great Wave".