Mount Fuji Climbing Season Begins

FUJIYOSHIDA, JAPAN – JULY 02: Climbers stop to take photographs along a trail to the summit of Mt Fuji on July 2, 2015 in Fujiyoshida, Japan. Mt Fuji is Japan’s highest peak and was named a UNESCO Heritage site in 2013, due to the popularity of climbing on Mt Fuji concerns for the preservation of the area have forced local governments to look at ways to control visitor numbers. During peak season, between July and September the summit trails on Mt Fuji are so congested with climbers they are close enough to touch. In 2014 the Yamanashi prefectural government extended traffic restrictions on vehicles entering the toll way to the foot of the mountain, as a result climber numbers for the July- August period of 2014 was down 21.6 percent to 243,662. As the 2015 climbing season begins, local governments are again looking at implementing traffic restrictions and are considering introducing a ´1,000 climbing charge per person, but have seen resistance from local businesses, complaining that the restrictions would interfere with tourism and effect their business while not significantly bringing down climbers. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)