Do I need a permit to climb Mount Fuji?

The Yoshida Trail requires a mandatory 4,000-yen fee and an advance online reservation as of the 2026 season. The other three trails require the same fee but check fujisan-climb.jp for their current reservation rules before you go, since the system has been changing year to year.

Can I climb Mount Fuji outside the official season?

It's strongly discouraged and genuinely dangerous — mountain huts, toilets and safety patrols close for the winter, and trails carry snow and ice. Guides and the official site both treat off-season climbing as an experienced-mountaineer activity, not a hike.

How much does it cost to climb Mount Fuji?

The mandatory trail fee is 4,000 yen. On top of that, a mountain hut stay, meals, a headlamp, trekking poles and rain gear are typical extra costs if you're not on an all-inclusive tour.

Do I need to be an experienced hiker?

No technical climbing skill is required — it's a long, steep walk on a marked trail, not a scramble. Altitude, fatigue and weather are the real risks; see the altitude sickness and packing guide before you go.

Climbing Mount Fuji: Trails, Fees and Season

Short answer: climbing season runs July 1 to September 10 (Yoshida and Subashiri trails open July 1; Fujinomiya and Gotemba open July 10). The Yoshida Trail — the most popular, closest to Tokyo — charges a mandatory 4,000-yen fee with an advance online reservation, and its gate closes 14:00-03:00 daily to stop unsafe overnight “bullet climbing.” Most climbers take 5-9 hours up and 3-4 hours down from the 5th Station, usually split across two days with a mountain hut stay.

The four trails, briefly

Mount Fuji has four official climbing trails, each starting from its own 5th Station:

Yoshida Trail (Yamanashi side) — the most popular by far, closest to Tokyo, the most mountain huts, and the trail this page focuses on for fees and reservations.
Subashiri Trail (Shizuoka side) — quieter than Yoshida, joins it near the 8th station.
Gotemba Trail (Shizuoka side) — the longest and lowest-starting route, fewer huts, popular for the descent’s volcanic-ash “sand run.”
Fujinomiya Trail (Shizuoka side) — the shortest distance to the summit, starting from the highest 5th Station of the four.

A full side-by-side comparison — crowds, hut availability, difficulty by trail — is covered on its own page rather than repeated here.

When the season is open

The 2026 season ran Yoshida and Subashiri trails July 1 to September 10, and Fujinomiya and Gotemba July 10 to September 10, confirmed against the official climbing website and corroborated by multiple independent guides checked in September 2026, while the site showed the season as closed for winter; dates can shift slightly year to year, so check fujisan-climb.jp before the next season opens. Outside this window, huts, toilets and safety patrols close, and climbing is genuinely dangerous rather than merely discouraged.

The Yoshida Trail fee, reservation and gate hours

As of the 2026 season, climbers on the Yoshida Trail pay a mandatory 4,000-yen fee, collected at a gate installed at the 5th Station; hikers who only walk partway and turn back before the gate are exempt. The fee requires an advance online reservation, made through the ticketing platform linked from the official fujisan-climb.jp site. The gate is closed 14:00 to 03:00 daily specifically to stop “bullet climbing” — going straight to the summit overnight without a rest, which raises the risk of hypothermia and altitude sickness. The Yoshida Trail also caps daily climbers at 4,000, though the cap is waived for anyone with a confirmed mountain hut reservation.

How long the climb takes

Most climbers take roughly 5 to 9 hours to ascend from the 5th Station and 3 to 4 hours to descend, depending on trail, pace and how much of the crowd is on the same schedule. Because of this length and the value of seeing sunrise (goraiko) from near the summit, most non-experts split the climb over two days with a stay at a mountain hut around the 7th or 8th station rather than attempting it in one push.

Climbing tour or independent

Climbing independently costs less but means booking your own hut, permit reservation and gear. A guided climbing tour bundles transport from Tokyo, the hut stay, meals, a guide and often rental gear into one price, and removes most of the planning risk for a first Fuji climb. If a guided sunrise climb suits you, the details are on the climbing tour page.