Japan tests how to evacuate thousands of foreign tourists if Mount Fuji erupts

Japanese officials have held an exercise to work out how to evacuate thousands of foreign tourists from the area around Mount Fuji if Japan's tallest mountain were to erupt.

About 150 participants from local governments, national ministries, transport companies, airlines and foreign embassies met in Fujikawaguchiko, in Yamanashi Prefecture, for the tabletop drill in late October, according to The Japan Times.

The scenario

The exercise imagined the Japan Meteorological Agency raising Fuji's volcanic alert to level 3 on its five-level scale, at which climbers are told to come down and visitors to leave. It assumed a busy Saturday afternoon in July, with about 2,000 international tourists stranded around Kawaguchiko Station, a hub for visitors to the mountain and its lakes.

The challenges

Language is a major problem. Many visitors do not speak Japanese, and emergency information must reach them quickly. Officials from Japan's internal affairs ministry suggested VoiceTra, a free translation app that supports 33 languages.

Traffic is another. The working group's chair, geoscientist Toshitsugu Fujii, warned that if roads become congested, "it could become a terrible disaster", and said evacuating large numbers of foreign visitors could not be handled by individual towns or prefectures alone, calling for more involvement from the national government.

Yamanashi Prefecture plans to compile the problems identified and consider how to include them in its disaster plans.

The existing plan

Japan's evacuation plan, revised in 2023, covers about 116,000 people in Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures. It encourages residents in nearby areas to leave on foot rather than by car to avoid gridlock, while elderly people and those who need help would leave by vehicle.

Should visitors worry?

No eruption is expected. Mount Fuji last erupted in 1707, and authorities say it is showing no signs of imminent activity. But it is an active volcano and is closely monitored.

The planning reflects Fuji's enormous popularity. Japan has welcomed record numbers of international tourists in recent years, and the area around the mountain is one of the country's busiest destinations. Preparing for a rare but serious event, officials say, is part of keeping it safe.