Some 1,000 Seniors Aged 70 or Older Scale Japan’s 3,776-Meter Mount Fuji in 2022

As I posted on this blog on August 25-26, 2022, I climbed Mount Fuji last summer to display a flag with the message “Don’t Forget Leprosy” at the top of Japan’s highest mountain.

This was intended to give fresh momentum to the “Don’t Forget Leprosy” campaign that I launched in August 2021 as WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination to send the message that leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, and those who are affected by it must not be overlooked even amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Toward the year-end, I received a list of elderly people aged 70 or older who reached the summit during 2022, which was compiled by Fujisan Hongu Sengen Taisha, a shrine at the foot of the mountain.

Every year from July to September, the shrine opens to the public two smaller shrines under its supervision－Okumiya and Kusushi－located at the peak of the mountain. Like other seniors, I signed the register at one of these when I made it to the top on August 4.

According to the list, the oldest climber to reach the peak in 2022 was a woman aged 96, born in 1927, from Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan. At 83, born in 1939, I was ranked the 34th oldest hiker.

Through my own experience, I can definitely say that the hike to the 3,776-meter summit is really demanding and challenging. So, I was truly surprised that there were as many as 987 climbers aged 70 or older who made it to the top last year.

I guess this number would easily surpass 1,000 if we include those who climbed the mountain and did not sign the register. The list showed senior climbers over 70 from all 47 Japanese prefectures except one, the western Japanese prefecture of Shimane on the Sea of Japan.

In terms of the number of climbs, a man from Shizuoka Prefecture reached the summit for a record 2,140th time, including his ascents when he was under 70, according to the list. Mount Fuji is located on the border between Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures, some 100 kilometers southwest of Tokyo.

There are seven other climbers, all males, who have scaled the summit more than 100 times－a climber from Shizuoka Prefecture (980 times), from Tokyo (380), from Yamanashi Prefecture (376), from Chiba Prefecture (300), from Shizuoka (209), from Kanagawa Prefecture (105), and from Shizuoka (100).

According to the Japanese Environment Ministry, about 160,000 people climbed Japan’s highest mountain in 2022, despite somewhat unfriendly weather.

Following up on my ascent of Mount Fuji, I plan to climb 5,895-meter-high Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania in September to display the “Don’t Forget Leprosy” flag at the top of Africa’s highest summit. For that, I will start training in early summer.