Japan’s Mount Fuji claims more lives this climbing season – ‘don’t underestimate’

Officials said all six who have died so far this year were Japanese nationals, with five apparently succumbing to the effects of altitude sickness, made worse by bad weather close to the 3,776-metre summit. The other fatality was a man who died in a fall.

“Many of the people who climb Mount Fuji every year are relatively inexperienced, and you have to remember that even experienced climbers can very easily get into trouble when conditions deteriorate,” said Paul Christie, founder of the Walk Japan travel company.

The summer climbing season started on July 1 on the Yamanashi prefecture side of the mountain, which has the popular Yoshida trail to the peak, and on July 10 on the Shizuoka prefecture flank, which has the Fujinomiya, Subashiri and Gotenba routes.

In the summer of 2023, a total of 221,000 people climbed the mountain, around 140,000 of whom used the Yoshida trail.

This year, two hikers died on the Yamanashi side and four in Shizuoka, local police said. The six deaths surpassed the four who died in last summer’s climbing season, which closes in September for all routes.

Local police told the Asahi newspaper that all six fatalities this year were men aged between 50 and 70. It is believed the men succumbed to altitude sickness exacerbated by the cold, which led to cerebral and pulmonary oedema, or a gradual build-up of fluid in the brain and lungs.

“Many people want to climb Mount Fuji – both Japanese and foreign visitors – because it is so famous and because it is relatively easy,” said Aya Ichikawa, an official of the tourism division of Fuji City, which has been tasked with monitoring hiking on the Shizuoka side of the mountain.

This summer, as many as 20 per cent of the people ascending the peak were foreign