Alpinist Ken Noguchi said tighter restrictions are needed to protect Mount Fuji from overtourism, including a much higher mandatory fee to climb the mountain.
Born in Boston in 1973, Noguchi conquered Mount Everest when he was 25 years old and became the youngest mountaineer to scale the Seven Summits, the highest peaks on each continent.
Noguchi, 50, currently serves as head director of Fujisan Club, a nonprofit organization based in Fuji-Kawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, that aims to protect the natural environment on Mount Fuji.
In an interview with The Asahi Shimbun, he explained what he believes would be the best way to preserve Mount Fuji as climbing season on Japan’s tallest mountain opened on July 1.
Excerpts of his interview follow:
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Question: What is your opinion about Yamanashi Prefecture’s plan to limit the daily hiker number to 4,000 by setting up a specialized gate, prohibiting entry at night and introducing a mandatory toll of 2,000 yen ($12.3) this summer?
Noguchi: I was astonished. I had called for mountain entry restrictions, including the imposition of a toll, even before Mount Fuji was inscribed on the World Cultural Heritage list.
Heavily crowded hiking trails and restrooms, coupled with trash, were already serious problems before its registration.
Despite that, it long remained “a taboo among taboos” to discuss mountain entry control in Yamanashi Prefecture.
Q: Why was it so?
A: A likely reason was Yamanashi Prefecture’s heavy dependence on Mount Fuji for tourism.
The prefecture seemed to believe that entry control could keep sightseers away from the summit because those reluctant to pay money might not climb Mount Fuji or could start the hike from the Shizuoka Prefecture side.
However, some officials in Yamanashi Prefecture started harboring a sense of alarm about the overuse of Mount Fuji, including Shigeru Horiuchi, mayor of Fuji-Yoshida at the foot of the mountain.
A prefectural representative asked me for advice on entry regulations while Mount Fuji was still seeking World Cultural Heritage status, fearing “registration may be revoked afterward.”
Q: What is your take on the fact that the 2,000-yen toll was introduced 10 years after a full-scale framework was put in place in 2014 to encourage climbers to donate 1,000 yen for the maintenance of the mountain?
A: It is understandable that small funds are solicited from a wider range of people aside from the conventional preservative donation to cover costs for natural protection and trail maintenance on Mount Fuji. The 2,000-yen toll seemingly marks just the beginning.
Q: Do you mean the toll must be raised at some point?
A: We should look at why the toll is essential. Yamanashi Prefecture intends to use funds from the toll system to set up a shelter on a descending trail for hikers’ safety. I believe the collected money should also be used to install more bio toilets and strengthen the roofing of mountain huts to withstand falling rocks.
The toll should be raised to proceed with these approaches.
Q: How much should it be raised?
A: The charge should be between 8,000 yen and 10,000 yen, given that the toll is expected to help lower the number of hikers. I recall that a similar proposal was made in an expert’s research program.
On top of that, it may be acceptable to gather 2,000 yen as soon as the hikers arrive at the fifth station.
Q: What do you think of plans to use funds from the toll to station guards at the dedicated gate and conduct patrols on the mountain to warn ill-mannered visitors not to sleep outdoors or start fires?
A: Although raising the number of guards and patrols is important, a future challenge is whether their instructions to hikers can be made legally binding.
Confusion at the gate and elsewhere on the mountain will likely continue for some time.
At certain national parks outside Japan, uniformed rangers are authorized to make arrests (as natural conservation officers).
The Japanese government should consider imposing laws or other rules to crack down on hikers who feel they can commit immoral acts if they just pay the toll.
Q: Are you arguing that both the central and local governments should work together to decide on the design and implementation of mountain entry control?
A: Yes, I am. Sightseers and beginner hikers come to Mount Fuji en masse, unlike the Northern Alps and the Yatsugatake mountains that primarily attract skilled climbers.
As more people from outside Japan pop up on Mount Fuji, it is important to protect the hiking environment in accordance with international standards.
This year marks a challenging year for Yamanashi Prefecture, now that it is relying on a new entry control mechanism.
Some problems will be reported, but improved legal and other approaches should be considered over the next 10 years or so.
(This interview was conducted by Takuya Ikeda, a staff writer of The Asahi Shimbun.)
AloJapan.com