Documentary: Ascending Mount Fuji to spread the message--“Don’t Forget Leprosy”

The Nippon Foundation has produced a short video of how I climbed Mount Fuji this summer to display a flag with the message “Don’t Forget Leprosy” at the top of Japan’s highest mountain.

Titled “CLIMBING MOUNT FUJI: A Challenge Inspired by the Desire to Eliminate Leprosy,” the Japanese version of the video (duration: 11 minutes and 4 seconds) was first released on September 16.

The Japanese version was narrated by Mr. Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, an actor and former member of the popular boy band SMAP, who won the 44th Japan Academy Award for Best Actor in 2021.

Together with two other ex-SMAP members－Mr. Goro Inagaki and Mr. Shingo Katori－he has worked closely with the foundation in the past, raising funds to help fight the novel coronavirus and assist Ukrainian evacuees in Japan as well as supporting the Nippon Foundation Paralympic Support Center as we prepared for the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021.

The Japanese video was followed by the release on October 17 of the English version, which lasts 11 minutes and 9 seconds, with a narration by Mr. James Huffman, a senior officer of the foundation.

As I posted on this blog on August 25-26, my excursion to Mount Fuji was inspired by a photo of world-famous Nepalese mountaineer Mr. Mingma Gyabu Sherpa holding a “Don’t Forget Leprosy” sign atop Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak, on May 15.

This gesture by a friend who shares my determination to pursue a world without leprosy deeply moved me, so I decided to do the same at the summit of 3,776-meter-high Mount Fuji.

The idea was 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.

The video documents how, at the age of 83, I prepared for the August 3-4 expedition and the challenges I faced during the ascent－rain, hail, leg cramps, below zero temperatures and steep rocky slopes－en route to achieving my goal.

The English version of “CLIMBING MOUNT FUJI: A Challenge Inspired by the Desire to Eliminate Leprosy” can be seen here.