Mount Fuji attracts thousands of foreign tourists each year, but many forget that Japan’s highest peak is an active volcano. With the risk of an eruption ever-present, a critical question looms: how could such visitors be evacuated safely in the event of a disaster?

On Thursday, around 150 participants from local governments, national ministries, transportation companies, airlines and foreign embassies convened in the gateway town of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, to examine this very question.

“While tourism brings economic benefits to our town, I believe we cannot simply celebrate those benefits without recognizing the enormous challenges involved in ensuring that tourists can evacuate safely,” said Fujikawaguchiko Mayor Hideyuki Watanabe.

The group conducted a tabletop drill, simulating an event where the Meteorological Agency raised the volcanic alert level for Mount Fuji to Level 3 on its five-level scale, restricting entry to the mountain and prompting climbers to descend and tourists to…