According to China News Service, on the 4th, Shizuoka Governor Hidehiko Yokouchi commented on the intended use of the trial climbing fees collected for Mount Fuji, stating that the funds should be used to improve public toilets as well as hiking trails and mountain huts above the fifth station (mid-mountain level) of Mount Fuji, with public toilets being the top priority. This statement reflects Yokouchi’s intention to engage in focused discussions with Yamanashi Prefecture over the next six months regarding this matter.
According to reports, on the same day, a “thank-you event” celebrating Mount Fuji’s inscription as a World Heritage Site was held in Shizuoka City. After the event, Yokouchi shared the above remarks with the media. The concern over environmental degradation due to insufficient public toilets on Mount Fuji has been growing, and Yokouchi emphasized that “we must not leave visitors with an impression of inconvenience, nor can we damage the natural environment.”
From July 25 to August 3, Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures trialed collecting climbing fees near the trailheads of four routes. During those ten days, approximately 34,000 people paid a total of about 34 million yen (roughly 2.11 million RMB).