A Swiss man, reportedly an executive at an assisted dying company, died after losing consciousness hiking up Mount Fuji, authorities said on Friday.
Rescuers separately managed to save a 99-year-old woman, however, after she was injured on the mountain and sheltered in a hut overnight.
Japan’s highest mountain was once a peaceful pilgrimage site but has become a popular target for hikers — some of whom lack the stamina required for the five-to-10 hour trek up and down.
Japan has tightened access rules on the 3,776-metre (12,388-foot) volcano in response to overtourism, crowding and a series of safety incidents involving poorly equipped climbers, some of them foreign tourists.
Police told AFP that the 58-year-old Swiss man, who had fallen unconscious during the hike, was resuscitated and taken to hospital but pronounced dead on arrival.
The Swiss assisted dying company EXIT identified the man as managing director Bernhard Sutter, saying in a statement that he died after a medical emergency while on a family holiday in Japan.
It was the second fatality since the Fuji hiking season began on July 1 after a 65-year-old Japanese man died on July 17, reportedly after falling and hitting his head.
Police also said that Tome Sagawa, 99, was rescued the same day trying to scale the mountain after the Japanese woman injured herself the previous day and spent the night in a mountain hut.
