Japanese man becomes oldest to summit Mount Fuji at 102 with help from his family

TOKYO — 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 Associated Press 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 3,776 meters (12,388 feet).

“I’m impressed I climbed so well,” he said, communicating with the help of his 75-year-old daughter Yukiko, who repeated questions into her father’s ear because he is hard of hearing. Akuzawa added that he doesn’t take any mountain for granted at his age. “It’s better to climb while you still can.”

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 5 a.m. for hour-long walks and tackling roughly one mountain each week, mostly around Nagano prefecture to the west of Gunma in central Japan.

Climbing began in his youth

Surrounded by relatives and framed paintings of mountains in his home in Maebashi, about 241 kilometers (150 miles) northwest of Tokyo, Akuzawa recalls what first drew him to the mountains 88 years ago. While the magic of reaching the summit is undeniable, it was the people who kept him coming back.

“I climb because I like it,” he said. “It’s easy to make friends on the mountain.”

Akuzawa was a capable student and worked as an engine design engineer and later as a livestock artificial inseminator, a profession he held until age 85, his family said.

“Whether you liked studying or not, you could enjoy the mountain just the same,” he said. “Intelligence didn’t matter up there. We were all on equal footing and moved forward together.”

Akuzawa 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.”

Winding down his climbs

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 1,828 meters (5,997 feet).

These days, Akuzawa spends his mornings volunteering at a senior care center and teaching painting at his home studio.

Mountaineering and painting demand time and dedication but both offer peace, he said.

“People who climb mountains, people who paint; if they can create something whole on that path, that’s the most fulfilling thing,” Akuzawa said.

Akuzawa’s daughters want him to paint Fuji at sunrise for the next addition to the depictions of mountain ranges covering his living room walls.

“I’ve got a lot of requests,” he said, prompting laughter from the assembled family. “I want to paint some scenes from the summit of Mount Fuji, places that hold special memories for me, since this was likely my last time reaching the top.”