102-Year-Old Beats His Own Record on Mount Fuji

Kokichi Akuzawa almost gave up during his trek to became the oldest person to summit Mount Fuji at age 102, an achievement recognized by Guinness World Records after he reached the top in early August. "I was really tempted to give up halfway through," Akuzawa told the AP in a recent interview. "Reaching the summit was tough, but my friends encouraged me, and it turned out well. I managed to get through it because so many people supported me." Akuzawa climbed with his 70-year-old daughter Motoe, his granddaughter, her husband, and four friends from a local mountain climbing club. The climbing party camped for two nights on the trail before their Aug. 5 ascent to the top of Japan's tallest mountain, which peaks at 12,388 feet.

The trip was not Akuzawa's first record-breaking ascent up Mount Fuji. He was 96 the first time he became the oldest person to scale the country's most famous mountain. In the six years since, he overcame heart issues, shingles, and stitches from a climbing fall. Akuzawa spent three months training before the Fuji climb, waking at 5am for hour-long walks and tackling roughly one mountain each week, mostly around Nagano prefecture, to the west of Gunma in central Japan.

Akuzawa, who started climbing 88 years ago, once enjoyed climbing solo, but with the passing years as his strength decreased he leaned more on help from others. His record climb last month was another test that he passed with assistance. "Mount Fuji isn't a difficult mountain, but this time was harder than six years ago. Harder than any mountain before," he said. "I've never felt this weak. I didn't have pain, but I kept wondering why I was so slow, why I had no stamina. I'd long since passed my physical limit, and it was only thanks to everyone else's strength that I made it."

story continues below

Akuzawa has been asked if he will attempt another Mount Fuji climb. "I'd love to keep climbing forever, but I guess I can't anymore," he said. "Now I'm at the level of Mount Akagi," a nearby summit standing about half the height of Fuji with a peak of 5,997 feet.