Mount Fuji loses its tranquil charm

Finding respite: Two visitors resting at the fifth stage on the slopes of Mount Fuji. -AFP

TOKYO: With its millions of visitors every year and the buses, supply trucks, noodle shops and fridge magnets, Japan’s Mount Fuji is no longer the peaceful pilgrimage site it once was.

Now authorities have had enough, saying the number of hikers trekking up the world-famous volcano – night and day – is dangerous and an ecological embarrassment.