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.

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 peak, which on clear days is known for its views of Mount Fuji. There, the whistling wind mixed with the sound of revving motorcycles below. But at least we could imagine what the mountain looked like.

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.

“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.

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.

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.

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.