Japan to charge rescue fee on Mount Fuji during off season

From next year, people who attempt to climb Mount Fuji during off-peak seasons and then require rescue by helicopter will have to pay for the service, authorities governing the northern part of the peak say.

The fee is among a series of measures Japan's Yamanashi prefecture is introducing to deter reckless and poorly prepared climbers.

A similar fee of 8,000 yen ($51; £38) per five minutes is already in place in nearby Saitama prefecture for other mountainous areas and will be used as a reference.

Yamanashi authorities will also require those looking to scale Fuji during the off-season, which runs from early September to July the following year, to submit detailed climbing plans.

"We ask the general public to refrain from climbing during the off-season. We hope that these measures will cause people to rethink what climbing Mount Fuji during the winter is like," Yamanashi Governor Kotaro Nagasaki said on Monday.

Officials in Yamanashi and neighbouring Shizuoka prefecture, which governs the southern part of Fuji, have seen a rise in off-season and unplanned climbs, some of which have left climbers stranded.

Shizuoka authorities say they will impose penalties on people who fail to register their off-season climbing attempts and strengthen efforts to keep climbers out of restricted areas.

They did not announce a helicopter rescue fee.

Mount Fuji's official climbing season runs from July to early September, with about 200,000 hikers attempting the summit each year.

Climbing outside of those months is highly discouraged although permitted up to the fifth of ten stations.

However, most mountain huts and toilet facilities are closed off season. The weather and trail conditions also tend to be more severe.