Kokichi Akuzawa almost gave up during his trek to became the oldest person to summit Mount Fuji at age 102, an achievement recognised by Guinness World Records after he reached the top in early August.
“I was really tempted to give up halfway through,” Akuzawa said. “Reaching the summit was tough, but my friends encouraged me, and it turned out well. I managed to get through it because so many people supported me.”
Akuzawa climbed with his 70-year-old daughter Motoe, his granddaughter, her husband and four friends from a local mountain climbing club.
The climbing party camped for two nights on the trail before their Aug 5 ascent to the top of Japan’s tallest mountain, which peaks at 3,776m (12,388 feet).
“I’m impressed I climbed so well,” he said, communicating with the help of his 75-year-old daughter Yukiko, who repeated questions into her father’s ear because he is hard of hearing. Akuzawa added that he doesn’t take any mountain for granted at his age. “It’s better to climb while you still can.”
The trip was not Akuzawa’s first record-breaking ascent up Mount Fuji. He was 96 the first time he became the oldest person to scale the country’s most famous mountain. In the six years since, he overcame heart issues, shingles and stitches from a climbing fall.
Akuzawa spent three months training before the Fuji climb, waking at 5am for hour-long walks and tackling roughly one mountain each week, mostly around Nagano prefecture to the west of Gunma in central Japan.
Surrounded by relatives and framed paintings of mountains in his home in Maebashi, about 241km northwest of Tokyo, Akuzawa recalls what first drew him to the mountains 88 years ago. While the magic of reaching the summit is undeniable, it was the people who kept him coming back.
“I climb because I like it,” he said. “It’s easy to make friends on the mountain.”
Akuzawa was a capable student and worked as an engine design engineer and later as a livestock artificial inseminator, a profession he held until age 85, his family said.
“Whether you liked studying or not, you could enjoy the mountain just the same,” he said. “Intelligence didn’t matter up there. We were all on equal footing and moved forward together.” — AP
