Mount Fuji hikers will be forced to pay to climb popular route to summit

Congestion charge comes amid boom in tourism that has put pressure on infrastructure and increased potential for accidents

People hoping to ascend Mount Fuji along its most popular route will be charged 2,000 (10.50, $13.35, A$20.50) when the climbing season starts in the summer, as local authorities try to ease congestion fuelled by Japan's tourism boom.

The trails leading up Japan's highest mountain - a Unesco world heritage site since 2013 - are becoming increasingly overcrowded, prompting concern over littering and bullet ascents", in which often inexperienced climbers try to scale the 3,776-metre peak without resting.