Mt. Fuji 2026: The Climbing Season Opens — New ¥4,000 Fee & Booking Rules

The season is opening now

The most-climbed mountain on earth has a short window. For 2026, the Yoshida and Subashiri trails open July 1, and the Fujinomiya and Gotemba trails — plus the summit — open July 10 (subject to last-minute snow-clearing). The season runs through early-to-mid September; outside it the trails, huts and water are closed and a climb is genuinely dangerous.

What's new in 2026: one fee, one rule for every trail

This is the big change. All four trails now charge a ¥4,000 entry fee per climber, and every climber must register and pay online in advance. The Yamanashi side (the Yoshida Trail) uses its own reservation website; the Shizuoka side (Fujinomiya, Gotemba, Subashiri) uses the 'Shizuoka Fuji Navi' app. You complete a short safety briefing as part of registration.

On the Yoshida Trail, the busiest route, two extra limits apply:

• A daily cap of 4,000 climbers — popular dates sell out, so book early.
• A gate cutoff in the afternoon: without a mountain-hut reservation you can't pass the 5th-station gate in the evening to attempt an overnight 'bullet climb'.

These rules exist to curb overcrowding, reckless overnight dashes and litter on the UNESCO-listed peak.

How to actually climb it

• Pick your trail. The Yoshida Trail from Fuji-Subaru Line 5th Station is the standard first-timer route — most huts, easiest access from Tokyo, descends on a separate path.
• Book a hut. A night at a 7th- or 8th-station hut breaks the climb in two and times your arrival for goraiko (sunrise from the summit). Huts book out for summer weekends well ahead.
• Register & pay the ¥4,000 on the correct site for your trail before you go; carry the confirmation.
• Don't bullet-climb. Going up and down in one night without sleep is how people get altitude sickness and hypothermia — and the new gate rules now discourage it.

Getting there

From Tokyo, direct highway buses run from Shinjuku Expressway Bus Terminal to the Fuji-Subaru Line 5th Station in peak season (about 2.5 hours); otherwise train to Kawaguchiko Station and bus up. The 5th station sits at 2,300 m, so even the start is cool — pack layers, rain gear, a headlamp and cash for the huts.

Bottom line

Fuji in 2026 is more regulated but better managed: a ¥4,000 fee, a compulsory online booking, a 4,000-a-day cap on Yoshida, and a real push against sleepless bullet climbs. Sort the registration and a hut first, climb to meet the sunrise, and it's still one of the great things you can do in a Japanese summer.