Mount Fuji Mayor Criticizes Off-Season Climbers After Another Rescue Inciden

 

Mount Fuji's authorities are sounding the alarm again. After yet another tourist needed emergency rescue earlier this month, officials are renewing their plea for people to stop climbing the mountain outside its official season.

The rules are not complicated. Fuji's trails are open from early July through early September. That is it. Outside that window, conditions turn genuinely dangerous, weather shifts fast, trails ice over, and a bad step can mean serious trouble.

Which is exactly what happened this month. A tourist from China fell near the Fujinomiya Trail, injuring his hand and leg, and had to be carried down by emergency responders. It is a scenario that plays out with frustrating regularity.

At a press conference on 11 May, Mayor Hidetada Sudo said what local officials have probably wanted to say for years. Climbers who ignore the closures aren't just rolling the dice with their own safety; they're also dragging emergency responders into dangerous situations. The "someone will save me" attitude, he made clear, is wearing very thin.

That point hit home in March, when footage circulated of emergency workers hauling an injured climber down the mountain in the middle of the night, during a snowstorm, on a rescue sled. It is a stark reminder that a split-second decision to "just try the climb" can cascade into a life-threatening situation for the people sent to help.

Officials are again asking hikers to wait for the trails to reopen. The summer season will be here soon enough.