The number of people who became stranded on mountains in Japan rose to 3,568 in 2023, the highest level since records began in 1961, according to National Police Agency data made available on Thursday.
The number of stranded cases also hit a record high of 3,126.
Among people stranded, the number of foreign nationals accounted for 145, the highest since comparable data became available in 2018 and a figure 1.4 times the level in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Of the total, 335 people died or went missing, an increase of eight from 2022.
Of those stranded, 790 people were those in their 70s, the largest group, with those in their 60s or over accounting for half of the total.
By prefecture, Nagano had the highest number of stranded people, at 332, followed by Hokkaido, at 245, and Tokyo, at 233.
The number of stranded people reported on Mount Fuji surged 90.2% from the average in the five years through 2022.
Mount Takao in Tokyo saw the number of stranded people jump 68.4%, and the Hotaka mountain range in central Japan logged an increase of 48.1%.