Japan’s iconic Mount Fuji has yet to see snow this season, breaking a 130-year record

Japan’s Mount Fuji remained snowless on Tuesday, marking the latest date that its slopes have been bare since records began 130 years ago, the country’s weather agency said.

The volcano’s snowcap begins forming on 2 October on average, and last year snow was first detected there on 5 October.

But because of warm weather, this year no snowfall had yet been observed on Japan’s highest mountain, said Yutaka Katsuta, a forecaster at Kofu Local Meteorological Office.

That marked the latest date since comparative data became available in 1894, he said, beating the previous record of 26 October – which had been recorded twice, in 1955 and 2016.

“Temperatures were high this summer, and these high temperatures continued into September, deterring cold air” which brings snow, Katsuta told the AFP news agency.

He said climate change might have a degree of impact on the delay in the snowcap’s formation.