Volkswacht Bodensee - Snow seen on Mount Fuji after record time without

The national weather agency -- which compares conditions in exactly the same location each year -- has not yet announced a new record for the slowest formation of Mount Fuji's famous snowcap, due to cloudy conditions near its monitoring station.

But photographs taken from different points around the active volcano, where the skies were clearer early on Wednesday, showed a covering of snow on its peak.

"These are photos of Mount Fuji, seen from the city hall this morning. We could see a thin layer of snow cover near the summit," said a post on the official X account of Fuji City, in Japan's central Shizuoka region.

Many others in the area also posted their own photographs of snow on the country's highest mountain.

"Finally, the first snow cover! Mount Fuji looks good with snow," said a post from a nursing home, also in Fuji City.

Mount Fuji's snowcap begins forming on October 2 on average, and last year snow was first detected by government meteorologists stationed in Kofu City on October 5.

That makes this year the latest arrival of snow since comparative data became available in 1894, beating the previous record of October 26 -- seen twice, in 1955 and 2016.

A Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) official in the Kofu office told AFP it was still too cloudy there to declare a new record, but said they were hoping the skies there would clear up later Wednesday.

"The temperature is low today," so any snow on the mountain will likely stay put for now, the official added.

Global warming is one of many factors that led to the slow snow cover, he said. "The temperature in October at the top of Mount Fuji was warmer than the average."

Japan's summer this year was the joint hottest on record -- along with 2023 -- as extreme heatwaves fuelled by climate change engulfed many parts of the globe.

Mount Fuji is covered in snow for most of the year, but during the July-September hiking season, more than 220,000 visitors trudge up its steep, rocky slopes.

Many climb through the night to see the sunrise from the 3,776-metre (12,388-foot) summit.

The symmetrical mountain has been immortalised in countless artworks, including Hokusai's "Great Wave". It last erupted around 300 years ago.

F.Mueller--VB