Still no snow on Japan's record-breaking Mount Fuji October 29, 2024

Mount Fuji is covered in snow for most of the year. Richard A. Brooks

By AFP - Agence France Presse

Still no snow on Japan's record-breaking Mount Fuji

Japan's Mount Fuji remained snow-free until Monday - the last time its majestic slopes have been bare since records began 130 years ago, the weather agency said.

The volcano's snow mantle begins to form on average on October 2, and last year, snow was first detected on October 5.

But due to the warm weather, this year no snowfall has yet been observed on Japan's highest mountain, said Yutaka Katsuta, a meteorologist at the Kofu Local Meteorological Office.

According to him, this is the latest date since comparative data became available in 1894, surpassing the previous record of October 26, recorded twice, in 1955 and then in 2016.

“Temperatures were high this summer, and those high temperatures continued into September, preventing the cold air” that brings snow, Katsuta told AFP.

He agreed that climate change could have a certain impact on the delay in the formation of the snow cover.

This year's Japanese summer was the second hottest on record - matching the level seen in 2023 - while extreme heatwaves, fueled by climate change, gripped many parts of the globe.

Mount Fuji is covered in snow for most of the year, but during the hiking season from July to September, more than 220,000 visitors climb its steep, rocky slopes.

Many climb at night to see the sunrise from the 3,776-meter (12,388-foot) summit.

However, fewer climbers have scaled Mount Fuji this year after the Japanese authorities introduced an entry fee and a daily limit on numbers to combat over-tourism.

The symmetrical mountain has been immortalized in countless works of art, including Hokusai's “Great Wave.”

Its last eruption occurred around 300 years ago.

  kh/kaf/dhc