In recent years, there are increasing number of night climbers who start to climb up from the fifth station of Mt. Fuji to watch see the sunrise at the summit. They climb all the way to the summit and immediately descend the mountain. Such climbing is called ‘bullet climb’. Since bullet climbers may face altitude sickness, including symptoms like nausea and headache, and also cause traffic congestion on the trails, which may put other climbers at risk. In 2019, one of such bullet climbers came from overseas was killed due to rock fall. In 1980, 12 climbers were died by another rock fall accident at Mt. Fuji in 1980.
In order to stop bullet climbing, the number of climbers will be capped at 4,000 per day, and pre-registration before climbing Mt. Fuji will be required from July 1st 2024. Also night climbing will not be allowed. A gate will be set up at the entrance to the trail at the fifth station of Mt. Fuji, and the gate will be closed between 4:00 pm and 3:00 am the next day (Climbers need to book overnight stay at mountain huts if they want to stay after 4pm).
Reservations must be completed by 23:59 on the day before the climb at the “Official Web Site for Mt.Fuji Climbing” https://www.fujisan-climb.jp/en/index.html. Tolls (2,000 yen per person) must be paid in advance. Up to 100 climbers can be booked at one-time reservation. A voluntary ¥1,000 donation for conservation and maintenance. can be paid at the same time.
After the reservation procedure is completed, a QR code will be sent via e-mail, and a wristband will be issued after the QR code is scanned on the device at the reception desk at the fifth station on the day of climbing. Climbers can pass the gate with the wristband. Climbers may be allowed to enter the mountain at the reception on the day without pre-reservation if the number of the climbers of the day has not reached 4,000 yet, however, prior reservations are strongly RECOMMENDED. Please prepare cash to pay the toll since payment devices may not work because connections might be unstable (there is no ATM at the reception desk).
RESERVATIONS 👇
https://www.fujisan-climb.jp/en/news/240513_yoshida_trail_reservation_en.html <the reservation site will open at 10am, May 20th.
