Meet Kokichi Akuzawa: The 102-Year-Old Who Became the Oldest Person to Summit Mount Fuji

At 102 years, Kokichi Akuzawa has set a new Guinness World Record as the oldest person ever to reach the summit of Mount Fuji – Japan’s tallest peak which stands at 3776 meters, foreign media reported.

A Tough Climb with Strong Support

Admitting to feeling like quitting halfway through the climb, Akuzawa recently told The Associated Press, “I was really tempted to give up halfway through.” But with encouragement from friends and family, he pushed ahead and carried on with his rather challenging journey. “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 reportedly said.

Reports suggest he made the trek alongside his 70-year-old daughter Motoe, his granddaughter, her husband, and four friends from joining them from a local climbing club. The group camped twice along the trail before their final ascent on August 5. Mount Fuji – 3776 meters tall – is Japan’s tallest peak.

A Life Steeped in Mountains and Community

Akuzawa’s passion for climbing began 88 years ago. Surrounded by his family members and paintings of mountains hanging at his home in Maebashi – about 241 kilometers northwest of Tokyo – he reflected on why he keeps returning to the slopes. “I climb because I like it,” CNN quoted him as saying. It’s easy to make friends on the mountain, Akuzawa further told the US-based publication.

Before taking retirement, Akuzawa worked as an engine design engineer and later as a livestock artificial inseminator until age 85, per CNN. “Whether you liked studying or not, you could enjoy the mountain just the same,” he told the American media network while adding that “intelligence didn’t matter up there”. 

“We were all on equal footing and moved forward together.”

Though he once enjoyed solo climbs, old age has seemingly compelled him to now rely more on his climbing companions. Reminiscing this latest feat, Akuzawa told CNN, “Mount Fuji isn’t a difficult mountain, but this time was harder than six years ago. Harder than any mountain before. 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.”

Looking Ahead with Art and Volunteering

Responding to a question on whether he plans to climb Fuji again, Akuzawa told the publication, “I’d love to keep climbing forever, but I guess I can’t anymore. Now I am at the level of Mount Akagi.” Akagi is a smaller nearby peak standing at 1,828 meters (5,997 feet).

Reports suggest Akuzawa now spends his mornings volunteering at a senior care center and teaching painting at his home studio. “People who climb mountains, people who paint; if they can create something whole on that path, that’s the most fulfilling thing,” he was quoted as saying.

His daughters hope he will paint a sunrise scene of Mount Fuji next, adding to the many mountain landscapes that decorate his home.

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