Almost two month into the climbing season, Mount Fuji is already seeing some results from its newly implemented overtourism countermeasures that went into effect in July — including the charging of an entrance fee and a restricted period for entry — especially when it comes to “bullet climbers.”
For the climbing season that began last month, the Yamanashi prefectural government for the first time implemented restrictions on the Yoshida trail, the mountain's most popular and commonly used route that starts from the 5th Station.
“We had two primary goals for the new restrictions — one is overtourism prevention,” Katsuhiro Iwama, an official at the prefectural government in charge of the project, explained. “The second is (preventing) ‘bullet climbers,’ or climbers who, in order to see the sunrise at the summit, walk throughout the night without taking a break or staying overnight at a mountain lodge.”