09 July 2021 (Friday) – Coronavirus Digest from Japanese Morning TV News Part 2 (of 2): Fuji ThorPreMe
See photo captions for stories
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ThorPreMe measures at Mount Fuji lodges amid covid19
[Pictured: A magnificent view of a breathtaking national treasure.
Also pictured: Mount Fuji.]
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So Mount Fuji climbing season opened on July 01 (after being entirely closed to climbers last year).
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One of the reasons for closing last year was the difficulty of ensuring climbers safety at lodges along the route.
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The lodges get notoriously crowded with tight communal eating and sleeping areas.
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The owner of this lodge at the 7th stage of the climb says their mission is to protect customers and ensure that Mount Fuji does not become ground zero of a cluster.
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Can they avoid “mitsu”? [crowding, poor ventilation, etc.]
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The lodge has cut maximum capacity by half and gone to an appointment only system.
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Arrivals [are checked for temperature, do the alcohol hand disinfecting and then] watch an explanation of lodge procedures on a prepared video.
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This is to reduce the amount of interaction and conversation between staff and guests.
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The lodge has ventilators and circulators set up.
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The windows of the lodge are usually kept open.
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The doors have ventilation panels.
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They have put partitions between each sleeping space.
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The windows are open at night too! [It can get pretty cold up there…they said about 10C]
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For the particularly nervous, they have made some one-person capsule-style “rooms”
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These individual rooms also all have their own ventilator.
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In the event of an expected covid case, they will be isolated in a tent outside.
And they will contact the doctor and prefectural authorities for instructions.
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They have spent over 100,000 yollars on these improvements [with financial help from the prefecture].
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However, after 7pm…
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…two foreigners turn up saying they want to stay at the lodge.
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“We didn’t make a reservation. Our original plan was to climb the mountain and come back down all in one day [but changed plans due to the weather].”
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[The lodge wasn’t full and the owner let them stay.]
Owner: It’s a difficult call. [If people don’t have a reservation or if we’re full, we should turn them away but] if we turn them away and they get into an accident that would also be a problem.
MK: Simple solution is to rent them one of those tents at full price and stick them outside… when I hiked to the top of Fuji, I found two locals camping on the summit all night, so should not be a problem at the eighth station.