Scaling Mount Fuji can be an enormous task at any age—after all, it stands as Japan’s tallest mountain at 12,388 feet. Despite all that, Kokichi Akuzawa recently defied expectation, becoming the oldest person to ever climb to the top at an astounding 102 years old.
Akuzawa embarked upon his record-breaking journey on August 3, 2025, alongside his 70-year-old daughter Motoe, his granddaughter, her husband, and four of his friends from a local climbing club. The group hiked across the Yoshida trail, one of the mountain’s four routes that, despite being considered its easiest and most popular, still boasts about 5,800 feet of vertical elevation gain. For the next two nights, Akuzawa camped alongside the trail, passing by its various huts, shops, and first-aid stations. By August 5, Akuzawa finally reached Mount Fuji’s peak.
“I’m impressed I climbed so well,” Akuzawa remarked in an interview with the Guardian. Still, it wasn’t an achievement he took for granted, claiming that he nearly gave up halfway through his trek.
“I was really tempted to give up,” he added. “Reaching the summit was tough, but my friends encouraged me, and it turned out well. I managed to get through it because so many people supported me.”
In preparation for his hike, Akuzawa maintained a rigorous training schedule, rising at 5 a.m. for hour-long walks, according to Guinness World Records. He would also scale one mountain per week, typically around the Nagano prefecture in central Japan. Luckily, the routine was a familiar one; he first felt drawn to mountains and mountaineering 88 years ago, and, in addition to climbing them, also has a penchant for painting them.
“People who climb mountains, people who paint; if they can create something whole on that path, that’s the most fulfilling thing,” Akuzawa said. “I want to paint some scenes from the summit of Mount Fuji, places that hold special memories for me, since this was probably my last time reaching the top.”
This ascent might have been his last, but it certainly wasn’t his first. Akuzawa scaled Mount Fuji at 96 as well, overcoming heart failure, shingles, and stitches from a climbing-related fall in the six years since then.
“Mount Fuji isn’t a difficult mountain, but this time was harder than six years ago,” Akuzawa explained. “I didn’t have pain, but I kept wondering why I was so slow, why I had no stamina. I’d long since passed my physical limit, and it was only thanks to everyone else’s strength that I made it.”
Akuzawa’s accomplishment ultimately earned him an award from Guinness World Records. For him, that recognition was more than enough. He even joked that he has no interest in climbing Mount Fuji again—at least not any time soon.
“If you ask me next year, maybe you’ll get a different answer,” he said. “But for now, I’m happy with that climb.”
Last month, Kokichi Akuzawa became the oldest person to ever scale Mount Fuji at 102-years-old.
Sources: 102-year-old fights back from heart failure to become oldest person to summit Mount Fuji; Japanese man becomes oldest person to reach Mount Fuji summit at 102; This 102-Year-Old Man Just Became the Oldest Person on Record to Summit Japan’s Mount Fuji
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AloJapan.com