The Mount Fuji summer climbing season has opened with a new fee and restrictions on numbers able to scale the mountain daily.
There is an entry fee of 2,000 yen ($13) and an optional donation for hiking the Yoshida Trail.
The number of hikers is capped at 4,000 per day.
Access can be arranged via an online reservation for the first time.
The iconic peak attracts about 220,000 visitors each July-September.
The mountain has three other hiking routes that remain free.
These measures are ‘first and foremost to protect lives’ said prefecture governor Kotaro Nagasaki.
Tourism leaders have raised concerns about overtourism with local towns irked by visitors crowding streets just to take photos.
