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Japan's Yamanashi Prefecture has decided to charge fees for helicopter rescues of climbers stranded on Mount Fuji outside the official climbing season, according to a Kyodo News report.
Mount Fuji, Japan's highest peak at 3,776 meters, sits on the border between Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures roughly 100 kilometers west of Tokyo. The mountain is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and remains a popular destination for climbers.
The new rule applies to people who climb the mountain outside its official season, which runs from July 1 to Sept. 10, and will take effect from September 2027. Yamanashi officials said the decision follows a rise in off-season ascents despite weather conditions that make climbers more likely to become stranded during that period.
Under the plan, anyone climbing above Mount Fuji's sixth station during the closed season must submit a climbing plan in advance. Those who fail to do so and later require a helicopter rescue will be charged, while fees will be reduced or waived for climbers who submitted a plan and followed safety recommendations. The prefecture said it will use a rate of 8,000 yen ($51.95) per five minutes of helicopter flight time, a figure already applied in Saitama Prefecture, as a reference point.
Yamanashi Governor Kotaro Nagasaki said at a press conference that authorities want people to stop treating off-season climbing "as an easy leisure activity."
Shizuoka Prefecture, which also oversees trailheads on Mount Fuji, said on Sept. 14 that it is preparing a similar proposal requiring climbing registration during the off-season, though it said it is still weighing whether to introduce rescue fees of its own, citing questions of fairness.
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