The words printed on the buses that drive through Kawaguchiko, a scenic town in the foothills of Japan’s tallest and most sacred mountain, were as reassuring as they were disconcerting: “Preserve the Nature of Mt. Fuji.”
河口湖镇是一个风景秀丽的小镇，位于日本最高、最神圣的山岳的山麓。穿过这个小镇的巴士上印着一句话：“保护富士山的自然特色。”这句话既令人安心，又让人感到不安。

The message was a reminder that despite years of effort, the millions who visit the mountain and nearby towns each year and the plethora of businesses that serve them continue to have a profound impact on the environment, whether through mounting trash, poor air quality or suburban sprawl. Mount Fuji, or Fujisan as it’s known to the Japanese, is the nation’s most recognizable natural landmark, a conical volcano immortalized by artists like Katsushika Hokusai and Utagawa Hiroshige. These days, the mountain, less than two hours from Tokyo, is a playground for rich and poor. Climbing the mountain is on many hikers’ bucket lists.
这是在提醒大家：尽管经过多年努力，每年前往富士山及其附近城镇的数以百万计的游客，以及为他们服务的多如牛毛的商家，仍在继续对环境产生深远的影响，具体表现在越积越多的垃圾、糟糕的空气质量、无序扩张的郊区等方面。富士山（日本人称之为Fujisan）是日本最著名的自然地标，葛饰北斋(Katsushika Hokusai)和歌川广重(Utagawa Hiroshige)等画家对它的描绘，令这座圆锥形火山流芳千古。现如今，它成为了穷人和富人的乐园，从东京到富士山的行程不到两个小时。在很多远足者的人生目标清单中，都有攀登富士山这一项。
But easy access to the mountain — drivers can park about halfway to the peak — has been a mixed blessing. Last year, nearly 320,000 people made the climb, yet 25 died trying. Illegally dumped garbage fills the forests. Traffic chokes surrounding roads and paths to the peak. Big events like the jazz festival at Kawaguchiko draw thousands of fans.
但是，富士山方便的交通状况（驾车可直达半山腰）令人喜忧参半。去年，将近32万人攀登了富士山，有25人死于登山途中。树林中密布着非法丢弃的垃圾。周边道路和前往山顶的通道时常出现交通拥堵。河口湖镇举办的盛会，比如爵士音乐节等，吸引了数以千计的粉丝。
Countermeasures have been taken. Low-waste toilets have been installed on the mountain, and tens of thousands of volunteers haul away tons of trash every year. Hybrid buses shuttle visitors to trailheads. This summer, climbers were asked to contribute a fee to help preserve the environment. But the measures will do only so much because the parade of visitors is likely to continue, especially now that Mount Fuji has been added to Unesco’s World Heritage list as a cultural asset (the 13th in Japan) for inspiring artists, poets and religious pilgrims.
人们已经采取了一些对策。山上安装了环保厕所，数以万计的志愿者每年运走成吨垃圾。在步行道的起点处，有混合动力公交车接送游客。今年夏天，登山者被要求缴纳一定的费用，以帮助保护富士山的环境。但是，这些措施的效果也是有限的，因为游客很可能还是会络绎不绝地前来，尤其是现在，富士山作为激发艺术家、诗人和宗教朝圣者灵感的源泉，被列入了联合国教科文组织(Unesco)的世界文化遗产名录（它是日本的第13个文化遗产）。
Hearts swelled in Japan after the June 22 designation was announced. The question is whether it will draw so many more visitors that the qualities that made Mount Fuji a cultural asset in the first place will be diminished.
6月22日，富士山被列入世界文化遗产的消息宣布后，日本人倍感骄傲。现在的问题是，富士山是否会吸引太多的游客，进而减损那些让它成为文化遗产的特质。
Mount Fuji is bracing for a big jump. Other heritage sites in Japan including Hiraizumi in Iwate Prefecture, Shirakawa-go in Gifu Prefecture and Yakushima Island in southern Japan all saw an increase in visitors after they joined the list in recent years.
富士山将迎来人数骤增的游客。日本的其他世界遗产，比如岩手县的平泉，岐阜县的白川乡，日本南部的屋久岛，近年来申遗成功后，都出现了游客增加的现象。
Seiichi Kondo, Japan’s Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs and a former ambassador to Unesco, said that more visitors are expected to visit Fuji, but that regulations may be strengthened to offset any degradation. “After all, the main objective of the inscription of particular sites on the list is to mobilize international efforts to protect them from various dangers, such as military conflicts, development and tourism,” he wrote in an e-mail.
日本文化厅长官近藤诚一(Seiichi Kondo)曾担任日本驻教科文组织大使，他认为参观富士山的游客会越来越多，但管理部门可能会强化法规，防止富士山出现退化现象。“毕竟，申请成为世界遗产的主要目的，就是动员国际社会的力量，保护遗产免遭各种危害，比如军事冲突、经济发展和旅游业带来的危害，”他在一封电子邮件中写道。
Mr. Kondo said the number of tourists has risen 15 percent so far this year — indicative of the Japanese view that the mountain is “a special symbol of nature and their identity.” According to other estimates, the number of visitors could double in the coming years. In the first 10 days of July alone, the number of hikers who passed the Yoshida Gate — a popular path to the peak — jumped 50 percent over the same period last year. Hikers were asked to bring portable toilet kits because the influx of visitors is overwhelming available infrastructure.
近藤诚一说，今年迄今为止，游客人数增加了15%，说明日本人认为富士山是“自然和他们的身份的一个特殊象征”。根据其他机构的估计，游客数量可能会在未来几年内增加一倍。仅仅是7月上旬，通过吉田口（一条很受欢迎的登山路径的入口）的人数就比去年同期跃升50%。由于游客大批涌入，现有基础设施不堪重负，管理部门已经要求远足者自带便携式厕所包。
Officials had tried on and off for 20 years to have Mount Fuji named a World Heritage site, and its inscription was front page news in June, when my wife and I visited Japan. Eager to see the celebration, we rode two hours by train to Kawaguchiko, a town 10 miles from the mountain.
日本官员前前后后努力了20年，才让富士山进入世界遗产名录。今年6月，我和妻子前往日本的时候，申遗成功的消息成为日本的头版新闻。我们很希望看到相关的庆祝活动，于是坐了两个小时的火车，到达离富士山10英里远的河口湖镇。
When we arrived at the small station, we knew instantly that many others had the same idea. After we boarded the Retro Bus that circles the town, our driver warned us that traffic would delay our trip. We crawled past gas stations, car dealers, fast-food joints and shops like Fujiyama Cookie.
抵达这个小火车站的时候，我们马上发现，许多人抱有同样想法。登上环游小镇的复古大巴后，司机提醒我们，堵车会延误我们的行程。果然，我们以龟速经过了沿途的加油站、汽车行、快餐店和富士山饼干(Fujiyama Cookie)等特产店。
We got off at the Natural Living Center, where a guard was directing buses in and out of the parking lot. Nearby, vendors sold vegetables, fruit and crafts. The lakeshore gardens were pleasant though Mount Fuji’s peak was obscured by thick clouds. As we walked among hundreds of photo-snapping tourists, our search for a view had little of the poetic resonance that Japan’s Unesco bid suggested. So we rode the bus to the Kachi Kachi Yama Ropeway and took a cable car more than 3,000 feet to the top of the mountain. There, the whistling wind mixed with the sound of revving motorcycles below. But at least we could imagine what the mountain looked like.
我们在自然生活馆(Natural Living Center)下了车，一名保安在停车场指挥大巴进进出出。不远处，小商贩在兜售蔬果和手工艺品。湖畔的花园景色怡人，不过厚厚的云层遮住了富士山顶。我们与成百上千拍照留念的游客一道前行，看到的景色实在不能让人想到日本申请将其列入教科文组织名录时描绘的那种诗情画意。于是，我们乘坐大巴上到噼啪山索道(Kachi Kachi Yama Ropeway)，在距山顶3000多英尺（约合915米）处登上缆车。在那里，呼啸的风声夹杂着下面摩托车的轰鸣声。不过至少，我们可以想象出富士山曾经的景象。
Politicians, environmentalists, local police and residents have worked for years to find a formula that preserves access to the mountain without undermining tourism. Solutions have been hard to find because there are so many stakeholders. Mount Fuji is in a national park, straddles two prefectures and is surrounded by five lakes and many towns, including Kawaguchiko. Volunteer groups have led the effort to remove the trash dumped near Mount Fuji. According to the Fujisan Club, a nonprofit group, volunteers hauled away 77 tons of garbage in the fiscal year that ended March 2013.
多年来，政界人士、环保人士、当地警方和居民都在努力寻找良方，希望在不损害旅游业的前提下限制上山人数。由于牵扯的利益方太多，很难找到解决之道。富士山是座国家公园，横跨两个县，周边有五个湖泊和诸多城镇，河口湖是其中之一。有志愿组织牵头清除倾倒在富士山附近的垃圾。非营利机构富士山俱乐部(Fujisan Club)表示，在今年3月结束的财年里，志愿者拉走了77吨的垃圾。
“There is no way to stop people from coming to the Fuji Five Lakes area, so it’s a difficult problem,” said Shomei Yokouchi, the governor of Yamanashi Prefecture.
山梨县知事横内正明(Shomei Yokouchi)说，“不可能阻止大家来富士五湖地区，所以问题很棘手。”
Heita Kawakatsu, the governor of Shizuoka Prefecture, which also borders the mountain, said there are plenty of inns and restaurants to accommodate a rise in visitors. He is more concerned about a surge in the number of hikers, and favored shutting the mountain during the winter for safety reasons. “We must observe the capacity for climbers and the balance between recreation and the object of art,” the governor said.
静冈县同样毗邻富士山，该县知事川胜平太(Heita Kawakatsu)称，旅店和餐厅数量充足，足以应对游客人数的上升。他更担心的是登山客的人数激增，并倾向于出于安全考虑在冬季封山。他说，“我们必须关注登山客接待量的问题，在休闲和文化之间寻求平衡。”
Mr. Yokouchi of Yamanashi Prefecture opposed the winter ban because serious climbers still need to train in the winter and because the cottages on the mountain would suffer.
山梨县知事横内正明反对冬季封山，因为职业登山者冬季也需要训练，而且封山会影响山上乡村旅店的生意。
For better or worse, Mount Fuji is so popular and easy to reach that it is nearly impossible to cordon off. The climb is not technical, but it is deceptively arduous. The trails are rocky and often crowded, the weather can change rapidly and even for climbers in good shape, 12,400 feet is a long way to go. Each year people are hurt or die from hypothermia, heart attacks and falls.
不管怎样，富士山太受欢迎，又容易抵达，几乎不可能封锁。攀登富士山技术上并不难，这让登山客往往忽视了它的危险。路途崎岖、人满为患、天气多变，就算是身体状况良好的登山客，爬1.24万英尺也很艰巨。每年都有人因体温过低、心肌梗塞和坠崖而受伤或死亡。
To help pay for preservation efforts, climbers during a 10-day stretch this summer were asked to donate 1,000 yen ($10.75). If the fee is made permanent, millions of dollars could potentially be raised.
为了资助保护富士山的努力，今年夏天参与一项10天攀爬活动的登山客被要求捐出1000日元（约合60元人民币）。如果变成永久性收费，有可能筹集数百万美元。
Keisuke Tanaka, head of the Whole Earth Nature School, which runs eco tours of the mountain, said that the donations should be used to improve trails and toilets and add waste treatment facilities and multilingual signs. The government, he said, should control the number of visitors.
全球自然学校(Whole Earth Nature School)是一家经营富士山生态旅游活动的机构，主管田中启介(Keisuke Tanaka)认为，捐款将应用于改善山道和如厕条件，并增添垃圾处理设施和多语言标识。他称，政府应控制游客人数。
To that end, new guidelines for climbers who scale Mount Fuji out of season were introduced in July. Hikers will have to submit their plans in writing and carry the proper equipment. With more visitors expected, the world will be watching to see if these and other measures work.
为了达到这一目的，今年7月推出了针对反季节登山客的新指南。其中规定，登山者必须以书面形式提交登山计划，并携带适当的装备。预计将有更多的游客来到富士山，这些措施是否奏效，全世界都将拭目以待。
“More people than ever will come,” said Shigeru Horiuchi, the mayor of Fujiyoshida City. “How we protect the natural environment and how we limit tourists and climbers are the biggest challenges.”
富士吉田市市长堀内茂(Shigeru Horiuchi)说，“将要到来的人数会超过以往任何时候。如何保护自然环境、如何限制游客和登山客的人数，这些是最大的挑战。”