Helicopters and hashtags: Japan’s mounting problem with unprepared hikers

On a clear summer morning at Mount Fuji’s fifth-station trailhead, the crowds look more beach ready than alpine prepared with canvas slip-ons, bare legs and lightweight jackets.

For Tatsuo Nanai, a veteran climber and until recently secretary general of the Fuji‑san Club, the scene has become a source of dread.

Japan’s official climbing season has only just begun, but he says he is already “very worried” about the number of people who will need rescuing – and the lives that will be lost – before the trails close again in mid-September.

“Too many people underestimate Mount Fuji,” Nanai told This Week in Asia. “For anyone who takes it lightly, it can be very dangerous.”

Last year, Japan recorded a new high in mountain emergencies, with 3,623 people having to be rescued and 332 deaths, according to National Police Agency data.