Prospects for Mt. Fuji in 2022
Despite the recent pandemic years, Mt. Fuji is likely to welcome visitors in the summer of 2022
After the coronavirus pandemic broke out in late 2019, Mt. Fuji was completely closed for leisure climbing in the follwoing 2020 season.
It was quitely restarted to accomodate visitors in summer 2020 with extra protective measures inplemented (mainly in huts), and overall attracted only 30–40% of the number in preceding years, according to an annual report.
Now in 2022, it seems to finally be opening in full. Periods of "open season" for the year 2022 are as follows:
| Fuji-Yoshida | – |
| Subashiri, Gotemba, Fujinomiya | – |
Access to each 5th Station (except Gotemba route) with private vehicles is restricted during the following periods:
| Fuji-Yoshida | – |
| Subashiri, Fujinomiya | – |
The mountain is generally declared closed on Sep. 10, but amenities will be provided until noon of the following day. Check this offical webpage for more details.
Pandemic situation
In regard to the pandemic, over 80% of Japan's roughly 125-million population have finished taking their second dose of a designated vaccine, according to NHK (the equivalent of BBC in Japan), and the daily fatality rate is less than a hundred as of June 20. While people are still cautious and wearing masks in public is practically mandatory, tourism is gradually reviving across the country, which apparently is not in the mood to refrain from traveling, especially in regard to outdoor activities.
Regulations covering entrance to Japan have been changing constantly, so please check carefully for updates.
Weather
Mid-June to Mid-July is considered the rainy season (tsuyu) in mainland Japan, and in some years, such as in 2021, it rained almost every day until the end of July. The Meteorological Angency, however, has already stated that the rain season was over (tsuyu-ake) as of June 27, and the long term forcast for this summer expects it will be relatively warmer.
Holidays
The period August 13–15th is known as Obon in Japan, and people tend to take a summer vacation to escape from megalopolises (although Obon is not a public holiday). This is also when Mt. Fuji gets the largest number of hikers per day, causing a human traffic jam along the trails. Besides, there is a public holidy "Mountain Day" on Aug. 11, which falls on Thursday in 2022, so the period between Aug 11 (Thr)–15 (Mon) is best avoided if you want to climb Mt. Fuji at your leisure.