Japan's Mount Fuji will become a World Heritage Site in June. The United Nations (U.N.) decided on April the 30th to give the famous mountain UNESCO World Heritage status. The U.N. team that made the decision said Fuji was very important to Japanese religion and art. They also said that the 3,776-meter-high volcano was important outside of Japan too. Fuji-san (as Japanese people call it) has been a sacred mountain for more than 1,000 years. Priests say that when you climb it, you move from the "everyday world" at the bottom, to the "world of gods, Buddha and death" at the top. They believe people can wash away their sins by climbing to the top and coming back down again.

Mount Fuji is a major tourist destination. It is very popular with hikers, who want to see the rising sun from its peak. More than 318,000 hikers visited the mountain last summer, with up to 15,000 people climbing each day. Local residents are now worried the World Heritage status will mean more visitors. That means there will be more litter and environmental problems. The local government may ask people to pay to climb the mountain to help preserve its beauty. Governor Shomei Yokouchi said: "It's likely we'll ask mountain climbers to help financially with keeping the mountain clean." Another idea being talked about is to limit the daily number of hikers allowed to the top.