Summer 2026 Mt. Fuji Stories

(photo from my 2019 Mt. Fuji climb)

Today the 2026 climbing season ends for this year. There have been some sad and strange stories in the news this year.

1) 99-year-old woman rescued while attempting to climb Mt. Fuji

A 99 year old woman from Iwate, Fukushima began climbing the Fujinomiya Trail on July 15th with friends. She stumbled and hurt herself that day, then spent two nights in a mountain hut near the 7th of the 10 stations.  At 7 am on July 17th, her friend called emergency services and rescue workers evacuated her from the mountain to a nearby hospital. She received medical treatment for back pain and her life was not in danger.  

2) First death of the season  

On July 17th, a 65 year old man from Nara fell and hit his head on a hard surface on the Fujinomiya Trail. Emergency rescue and medical services were called but the man died from his injuries. 

3) Foreign hiker becomes the second fatality  

On July 21st, a 58 year old man from Switzerland was hiking on the Fujinomiya Trail with his son. They stopped for a rest at a mountain hut near the 7th station when the father fell unconscious. The son alerted the hut staff, who called Shizuoka Prefectural Police’s mountain rescue team. They were able to resuscitate the man and take him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The medical investigation is ongoing.

4) German woman rescued, then went on to climb again

On August 19th, a 33 year old German woman began hiking with a companion, beginning at the fifth station on the Fujinomiya Trail. By the time she reached the eighth station, she was suffering from altitude sickness, including dizziness, fatigue, and nausea. After a medical examination at the eighth station medical center, the woman was able to secure an overnight space at a mountain hut where she slept overnight.  Before dawn the next morning, she was back on the trail and continued on to reach the top. Unfortunately, she was not able to make it down on her own and had to be rescued and taken down by Shizuoka Prefectural Police’s mountain rescue team, then taken to the hospital for treatment.

5) Father leaves 7 year old son alone on mountain

On August 20th, a 48 year old father and his two sons, age 7 and 12, started climbing the Fujinomiya Trail at the fifth station.  Around the sixth station, the 7 year old became fussy and began complaining he was tired. The father told the 7 year old to “wait here”, and continued climbing to the top with the older child. At 7:40 the next morning, when it was raining and fog was forming, a worker at a mountain hut invited the young boy inside, and contacted the police. The police learned the father’s name and were able to call him and tell him to come down now and get his 7 year old. The dad and the older child were at the eighth station. Thankfully, the 7 year old was not physically harmed.  

6) Two unconscious climbers

Two climbers were found unconscious in separate incidents at different places on the mountain on September 9th. One climber was found collapsed near the summit about 5:40 am.  The other was found at 7:00 am at the New 7th Station on the Fujinomiya Trail.

7) Landslide at Mt, Fuji Fujinomiya 5th station

Finally, yesterday, September 9th, just after midnight, a landslide occurred at the Fujinomiya 5th Station parking lot, which buried three cars. No drivers, passengers, or climbers were in or near the cars and there were no injuries. Debris blocked the roadway and heavy machinery was dispatched but continuing bad weather makes the recovery and reopening time unknown. 

And so the 2026 climbing season will end.

Ryuganbuchi and Iwamoto Mountain Park

This year was the best cherry blossom season! This day, I took the train to Iriyamase Station on a weekday, and there weren’t so many other people. A short walk from the station is the Takido Bridge and fantastic views.

On the side of the river is Takidisui Shine, small, with a nice view of Mt. Fuji.

Next was a steep hike to Iwamoto Mountain Park.  I had been to this park a couple of times before with friends, by car.

These little wild flowers are so sweet. Can anyone identify them?

Update: thanks to my friend who emailed me to identify the flowers as Japanese irises called shaga.

A picnic lunch, with a beautiful view.

The clouds came to hide Mt. Fuji in the afternoon.

There is a higher area at the park, with a lookout tower.

This is a nice park to visit any time, easier to reach by car, but a great hike on a nice day.

Second Winter Fatality on Mt. Fuji

 

Sadly, another climber died while on Mt. Fuji last Monday morning. A Japanese man in his thirties was descending near the 9.5 station about 8:30 am when he fell, then slid about 1.5 km on ice and struck rocks near the Hoei Crater, resulting in his death. His body was recovered by a police rescue team. 

And that’s not the end of the story for that day. A foreign tourist in his 30’s who was also descending the mountain, witnessed the Japanese man’s fall before he also fell at about 3,670 meters. He slid over 1,400 meters in about 1.5 minutes. According to his GPS watch, his average speed during the slide was 60 km/h, with a maximum speed of 78 km/h. He came to a stop when he collided with rocks near the Hoei Crater, injuring his leg, tearing his clothes and backpack, and scattering his gear. It took two hours for him to crawl and find his phone to call for help. It took another two hours for a police helicopter to rescue him. He is recovering in the hospital. 

There are risks involved in climbing Mt. Fuji, especially when the mountain is closed to climbers. This is a sad ending.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcRjw0UPTtQ

Fuji Safari Park

I have known people who visited this place, but it is not near public transportation, so I hadn’t gone myself before. Two friends invited me to join them. 

(If you are over 65 and/or buy your ticket online you can get a discount ticket). 

This was our view of Mt. Fuji while driving there.

The animals here are in bigger areas than a normal Japanese zoo, but they are not free in an open area. (I imagined something more like the North Carolina Zoo, and it was not that big of an area.)

Visitors can drive their own cars through the park, or pay an additional fee to ride in the park buses. We arrived when the park first opened so it was not crowded. By the time we left, it was pretty busy. We had an expert driver/friend who safely drove us through the animal areas.

There are many warnings to stay inside your car with the windows closed. Between the animal areas, there are double gates so the animals cannot escape.

There were quite a few bears.

The lions were not very energetic.

Throughout the park, there were these zebra looking vehicles patrolling.

Between the areas were guard towers, to open and close the gates, and make sure the car windows were closed, maybe.

We only saw one tiger.

The elephants looked a little lonely. Their area was covered in concrete.

This area had a mixture of different animals. I guess they could be together because they wouldn’t eat each other.

After finishing the driving course, we parked and visited the small animal and shop area.

There were several tiger cubs in a room behind glass.

One of my friends brought a Japanese lunch for us. I brought  American dessert- apple pie for us.

It was an interesting trip, but the day wasn’t over yet. I have a couple of more posts coming to tell about what else we did. Stay tuned…