Japan considers building a train up Mount Fuji to curb traffic, tourists
JAPAN may build a train nearly two-thirds of the way up Mount Fuji to limit vehicle traffic and prevent overcrowding in a bid to preserve one of its top sightseeing and climbing destinations.
At 2,300 metres above sea level, the Fuji Subaru 5th Station is the main hub for tourists visiting the iconic mountain and five million guests passed through the site in 2019. Visitors dwindled after Japan limited inbound travellers due to Covid-19, but have since returned. A constant flow of large buses carrying visitors was visible earlier this month on the last day of the official climbing season, despite a thick layer of fog hiding the iconic mountain.
The light rail project would transform the destination into a more upmarket tourist attraction that bolsters the local economy. Roundtrip tickets for the train would cost 10,000 yen (S$93), an increase from the current 2,100 yen fee for private vehicles, which would be prohibited under the plan. Officials may also build a hotel at the site, which currently has restaurants and shops where guests can buy supplies before attempting the 3,776 metre summit.
“Mount Fuji will lose its charm” without the plan, said Masatake Izumi, an official with the local Yamanashi prefecture in charge of promoting the project. During peak climbing season in summer hundreds of cars and buses and thousands of climbers can converge at the site, overwhelming parking and bathroom facilities.
The plans are materialising amid a recovery in tourist numbers since the country reopened its borders last year. Following China’s lifting of travel restrictions for its citizens, Japan’s visitors are expected to surge to a record in 2025, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.
Officials said they have not estimated how much carbon dioxide would be avoided through prohibiting personal vehicles and requiring visitors to take the light rail. But the average amount of the greenhouse gas emitted per passenger-kilometre is significantly lower for trains at 17 grams, than for buses or cars at 57 and 130 grams, respectively, according to data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
The Mount Fuji light rail plan is similar to how Zermatt, Switzerland, requires tourists to access their mountain resort town by train, said Paul Peeters, a professor who specialises in sustainable tourism transportation at Breda University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. Railways eliminate the need for parking space and are better for biodiversity and landscape than vehicles, he added.
They can also make destinations more exclusive, attracting the type of tourist who will spend more, he said. That’s the plan for Mount Fuji’s fifth station as well where Yamanashi prefecture officials are aiming to enrich visitor experiences – and limit their numbers.
“If we can elevate the satisfaction level of the visitors, they will pay an appropriate price for it,” said Izumi. “We want to build a business model that benefits the local economy.” BLOOMBERG
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