"Purified": Japan's Hikers Return To "Revered" Mount Fuji

Japan's Mount Fiji's symmetrical slopes were closed to the public last summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and only reopened this month.

For a year, the peak of Japan's iconic Mount Fuji has been off-limits because of coronavirus, but now hikers are flocking back to catch the spectacular sunrise above the clouds. The active volcano's symmetrical slopes were closed to the public last summer due to the pandemic, and only reopened this month. In the early hours of a recent morning, more than 100 people were gathered at the summit of the sacred mountain, which is capped with treacherous ice and snow for most of the year. "Fuji has always been revered. It is a mountain that is an object of worship," said Takeo Tokunari, a 34-year-old hiker.