Value Village ／ Before you come to Japan
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Mount Fuji (3,776 m) is climbed by around 200,000 people each summer (about 205,000 in 2025), many of them first-time hikers, and every year the mountain rescue teams pick up visitors in trainers and T-shirts who set off at midnight with no torch. Since 2024 the mountain has a gate, a fee, and a cap. Here is what has changed and what has not.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Season | Early July – 10 September (dates vary by trail and year). Off-season climbing is officially discouraged; huts and first-aid posts are closed and fatalities occur every year |
| Routes | Yoshida (Yamanashi, most popular, ~60% of climbers, best hut coverage), Fujinomiya, Subashiri, Gotemba (Shizuoka). All start from a "5th station" reached by bus |
| Times | 5th station (2,300 m) to summit: 5–7 hours up, 3–5 down. Most people climb in the afternoon, sleep at a hut, and reach the summit for sunrise |
| Fees and gates (2026) | ¥4,000 per climber per climb on all four trails. All trails close their gates 14:00–03:00 to anyone without a hut reservation. Yamanashi (Yoshida): online reservation, 4,000/day cap, gear checks at the gate. Shizuoka (3 trails): compulsory online e-learning and registration via FUJI NAVI before the pass is issued |
| Temperature | Summit 0–8°C in summer, with wind chill below zero; 10°C colder than the 5th station, 20°C colder than Tokyo |
| Altitude sickness | Headache, nausea, dizziness in a large share of climbers above 3,000 m. Descend if symptoms worsen; oxygen cans help little |
| Huts | Reservation required, ¥10,000–15,000 with dinner and breakfast, dormitory sleeping, no showers, toilets ¥200–300 per use |
| Rescue | Police/fire rescue is currently free of charge, but Shizuoka Prefecture is studying charging for off-season helicopter rescues (Saitama already charges ¥8,000 per 5 minutes of flight in designated mountain areas). Off-season rescue is slow, dangerous for rescuers and may not come at all |
[Verify] 2025 fee (¥4,000) and Yoshida gate hours/cap with the official climbing site; climber numbers and altitude-sickness share with prefectural reports.
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https://www.fujisan-climb.jp/en/
https://www.pref.yamanashi.jp/english/
https://www.jma.go.jp/jma/indexe.html
⚠️ Editorial note: the source URLs above were identified by search. Our working environment cannot reach go.jp domains, so the contents have not been checked against the text. Verify every source before publication and record who checked it and when.
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