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Mount Fuji Hikers to be Charged $27 on All Trails

(FILES) A chimney is seen at the Keihin Industrial Zone as Mount Fuji (background L), Japan's highest mountain at 3,776 meters (12,388 feet), looms in the background as viewed from the observation deck of Kawasaki Marien in Kawasaki on January 24, 2022. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)
(FILES) A chimney is seen at the Keihin Industrial Zone as Mount Fuji (background L), Japan's highest mountain at 3,776 meters (12,388 feet), looms in the background as viewed from the observation deck of Kawasaki Marien in Kawasaki on January 24, 2022. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)
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Mount Fuji Hikers to be Charged $27 on All Trails

(FILES) A chimney is seen at the Keihin Industrial Zone as Mount Fuji (background L), Japan's highest mountain at 3,776 meters (12,388 feet), looms in the background as viewed from the observation deck of Kawasaki Marien in Kawasaki on January 24, 2022. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)
(FILES) A chimney is seen at the Keihin Industrial Zone as Mount Fuji (background L), Japan's highest mountain at 3,776 meters (12,388 feet), looms in the background as viewed from the observation deck of Kawasaki Marien in Kawasaki on January 24, 2022. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)

Hikers attempting any of Mount Fuji's four main trails will be charged an entry fee of 4,000 yen ($27) from this summer, after local authorities passed a bill on Monday.

A record influx of foreign tourists to Japan has sparked alarm about overcrowding on the nation's highest mountain, a once-peaceful pilgrimage site.

Last year, Yamanashi region -- home to Mount Fuji -- introduced a 2,000 yen ($14) entry fee plus an optional donation for the active volcano's most popular hiking route, the Yoshida Trail.

A cap on daily entries and online reservations were also brought in on that trail by officials concerned about safety and environmental damage on Fuji's majestic slopes.

The Yoshida Trail fee will be doubled for this year's July-September climbing season, while neighboring Shizuoka region passed a bill on Monday to also charge 4,000 yen for its three trails, which were previously free, AFP reported.

Thanks in part to the new restrictions, the number of climbers who tackled Mount Fuji declined to 204,316 last year, from 221,322 in 2023, environment ministry data shows.

Although climber numbers continue to be eclipsed by pre-pandemic levels, "200,000 hikers is still huge", Natsuko Sodeyama, a Shizuoka prefecture official, told AFP.

"There is no other mountain in Japan that attracts that many people in the span of just over two months. So some restrictions are necessary to ensure their safety."

Mount Fuji is covered in snow for most of the year, but during the summer hiking season many trudge up its steep, rocky slopes through the night to see the sunrise.

The symmetrical mountain has been immortalized in countless artworks, including Hokusai's "Great Wave". It last erupted around 300 years ago.

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Injured Seals Get Care and Sanctuary at a New Center in the Netherlands 

A seal swims in a tank at the new seal sanctuary in Lauwersoog, northern Netherlands, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP)
A seal swims in a tank at the new seal sanctuary in Lauwersoog, northern Netherlands, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP)
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Injured Seals Get Care and Sanctuary at a New Center in the Netherlands 

A seal swims in a tank at the new seal sanctuary in Lauwersoog, northern Netherlands, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP)
A seal swims in a tank at the new seal sanctuary in Lauwersoog, northern Netherlands, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP)

Gliding gracefully through the waters at his new home, Witje pauses briefly to peer through a large window at the curious and admiring visitors.

The 4-month-old gray seal is a lucky survivor able to swim in one of nine new tanks at the World Heritage Center, or WEC, a recently opened seal rescue facility in Lauwersoog, in the north of the Netherlands.

He was brought in after being orphaned and was suffering from a swollen flipper and a damaged eye.

“On a yearly basis, we roughly treat about 200 seals,” Sander van Dijk, the curator of the center, told The Associated Press. In 2024, researchers at Wageningen University in the Netherlands counted around 24,000 seals across the Wadden Sea.

Most are pups who get separated from their mother, known as howlers for their plaintive wailing. Others are injured by floating debris or are struck by passing vessels.

“If we look at our own data over the past 15 years, we just see every year more seals that somehow get entangled in waste in the sea, mostly fishing nets,” Van Dijk said.

The WEC, which officially opened to the public Saturday, replaces the Pieterburen Seal Center, a rescue facility set up in 1971 to treat injured seals found in and around the nearby Wadden Sea, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Witje’s tank is an upgrade from his previous quarters. He gets to swim in water directly from the sea, rather than tap water, in order to maintain a habitat as close as possible to the seals’ natural environment.

“They are adapted to living in seawater. It’s good for their fur. But also seawater, through its salt, has some properties that makes wounds heal faster,” Van Dijk said.

The WEC can treat around 70 seals at a time and has 12 intensive-care units for animals with serious injuries who are able to recover in special enclosures which offer a calm environment. They are prevented from swimming in order to rest and the space is cleaned frequently to prevent infections from waste.

The new building, which cost over 40 million euros ($45 million), with financing provided by local and regional governments as well as charitable organizations, tells more than just the story of the seas. It’s an educational space which teaches visitors about the Wadden Sea, the largest continuous system of intertidal flats in the world, extending along the coasts of the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark.

The new facility is significantly closer to the sea than the previous location. The tanks for the 10 seals currently residing at WEC look out over the water. Caregivers at the center are optimistic that Witje will soon recover enough to be released back into the waves.