2 Americans rescued from Japan's Mount Fuji prompt more calls for tougher rules
Japan 's Mount Fuji in separate incidents before the official climbing season began on Thursday, prompting renewed calls for tougher penalties on rule-breaking hikers who endanger themselves and drain local resources.
The deployment of Shizuoka prefecture's mountain rescue teams twice in two days to rescue the pair has again triggered criticism of people who insist on trying to ascend the 3,776-metre peak outside the season without adequate preparation and equipment.
While the two rescues on July 4 and July 5 did not require the use of helicopters, there are growing calls for anyone who has to be rescued from Mount Fuji to foot the bill of each recovery operation.
'The three routes to the top of Mount Fuji that are in Shizuoka prefecture opened today, but we have had reports of hikers recovered earlier this month,' said Aya Ichikawa, an official of the tourism division of Fuji city, which is tasked with monitoring hiking on the Shizuoka side of the mountain.
'This is a problem because it is outside the climbing season, but there is no punishment for those who do not follow the rules. All we want is for people to follow the rules to make sure they are safe,' she told This Week in Asia.
The 67-year-old American who was rescued on the Fujinomiya trail on July 4 has not been named, although it was revealed he had pitched a tent near the seventh station on the mountain. He was feeling unwell and asked other hikers for help, with one calling the emergency services, according to a report by Shizuoka Broadcasting.
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