Mount Fuji climbers could be charged for helicopter rescue
The government of Yamanashi Prefecture, which has a trail to Mount Fuji, has begun studying charging climbers of the mountain for emergency rescue operations using the prefecture's helicopters.
The official climbing season for the mountain is usually set between early July and early September. A council of the central and municipal governments and others prohibits climbers without sufficient preparations from going up at other times.
But a number of accidents are reported every year as some people attempt to climb when trekking trails are closed. Last month, a Chinese university student was rescued twice in a week on the Shizuoka Prefecture side.
Yamanashi officials say they plan to study issues related to collecting the fee, looking at the case of a prefecture that already has an ordinance allowing the government to collect such fees. They include the period for charging fees, whether to collect fees from climbers of other mountains and how to handle cases in which climbers are rescued by other public helicopters, such as police ones.
The burden rescue efforts put on the public purse is becoming an issue. Earlier this month, Mayor Horiuchi Shigeru of Fujiyoshida City at the foot of Mount Fuji on Yamanashi side asked the prefectural government to consider charging fees, pointing out that rescue operations are extremely expensive.
Yamanashi officials say they will work on the plan to prevent reckless climbing although they are aware of the challenges involved in charging rescue fees.
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