Police: Avoid Climbing Mt. Fuji in Winter
If you’re an inexperienced climber that thinks it would be cool to celebrate the New Year by climbing Mt. Fuji, the Japanese police are here to save you from freezing to death:
To prevent accidents among climbers aiming to see the first sunrise of the year from the summit of Mt. Fuji, police officers will be deployed at the volcano’s fifth station on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 to turn back any climbers deemed to be too lightly dressed.
An increasing number of people are nonchalantly starting their ascent of the mountain in winter in light attire, prompting the police to take such a measure for the first time. While the police will have no legal power to stop people, they will make every effort to dissuade people they believe are ill-prepared for the climb.
“We are determined not to let people who underestimate how difficult it is to climb Mt. Fuji go up,” a spokesman at Fuji-Yoshida Police Station said.
According to the National Police Agency, about 150 people climbed Mt. Fuji between Dec. 29 and Jan. 3 last winter, apparently wanting to see the first sunrise of the year.
