Mount Fuji to close for climbing this summer

Coronavirus outbreak prompts first full shutdown since at least 1960

20200518N Mt Fuji

Mount Fuji stands covered in snow in November 2019. Japan's most famous peak will be closed to climbers this summer. (Photo by Hideaki Naito)

KIMIHIKO KOHATA, Nikkei staff writer

SHIZUOKA, Japan -- Mount Fuji, Japan's most recognizable landmark, will see all climbing paths closed this summer owing to concerns that crowds of hikers could spread the coronavirus.

Shizuoka Prefecture, which manages three of the four routes, said Monday that all three will remain closed during the July-September season for the first time since the prefectural government took over their management in 1960.

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