Mount Fuji, a UNESCO World Heritage site and Japanese icon, has implemented new climbing limits in response to concerns about overpopulation.

Beginning July 1, climbers must pay 2,000 yen ($12.40) per person, and there is a daily limit of 4,000 climbers.

Mount Fuji | Japan Times

Japan’s Mount Fuji Implements Tourist Tax In Response To Overcrowding Concerns

“By strongly promoting comprehensive safety measures for climbing Mount Fuji, we will ensure that Mount Fuji, a world treasure, is passed down to future generations,” stated Koutaro Nagasaki, governor of Yamanashi Prefecture, when he announced the new laws earlier this year.

“To revitalize traditional mountain climbing from the foot of Mount Fuji, we shall get a thorough grasp of the Fuji-ko and Oshi cultures that fostered Mount Fuji worship. We hope to connect different civilizations through mountain climbing, which is steeped in religious cultural values.”

Fuji-ko is a religion unique to the mountains.

Human traffic bottlenecks, garbage-strewn hillsides, and poorly dressed hikers – some attempting the trip in sandals – are among the challenges afflicting the renowned Japanese destination.

In addition, new guides will oversee trail safety and notify climbers if they violate mountain etiquette, such as sleeping along the trail, making a fire, or wearing inappropriate attire.

According to prefectural data, five million people hiked Mount Fuji in 2019, up three million from 2012.

“Overtourism – and all the subsequent consequences like rubbish, rising CO2 emissions, and reckless hikers – is the biggest problem facing Mount Fuji,” Masatake Izumi, a Yamanashi prefectural government official, told CNN Travel last year.

In 2023, a volunteer named Tomoyo Takahashi told CNN that she planned to ask tourists to donate 1,000 yen ($6.20) to help maintain the mountain.

“Not everyone pays the 1,000 yen, which makes me sad. “There should be a much higher mandatory entrance fee so that only visitors who truly value Mount Fuji’s heritage come,” she stated.

Takahashi will finally achieve her wish.

Mount Fuji | CNN Image

Japan’s Mount Fuji Implements Tourist Tax In Response To Overcrowding Concerns

The new limitations, however, only apply to Yamanashi prefecture, which has the most popular hiking trails. Fuji is also located in Shizuoka prefecture, which has yet to have any tariffs or visiting restrictions. Governor Nagasaki told reporters that he and Shizuoka’s governor will meet at the end of the climbing season to swap notes.

Overtourism has become a major issue in Japan since the country reopened during the pandemic.

Locals in Kyoto’s historic Gion area have expressed concern over tourists flocking to photograph and sometimes harass the geisha who live and work there, giving them the term “geisha paparazzi.”

While the city has posted signs and boards urging visitors not to photograph geisha, several locals told CNN Travel that more is needed. The neighborhood council proposed issuing fines or penalties.

Hatsukaichi, in Hiroshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, has also been hit. The little hamlet is notable for its orange “floating shrine” torii gate, part of a 1,400-year-old Shinto complex.

In October 2023, the town started charging 100 yen (62 cents) for visitors to the temple. The “tourist tax” funds the site’s maintenance and infrastructure.

SOURCE – (CNN)

Google’s most recent generative AI model, Gemini, was just released. The well-known tech corporation regards Gemini as the most sophisticated and adaptable AI model. Google has said that it will expand and improve its large language model (LLM) in the next year. Because the LLM is multimodal, it can understand several data types, including text, audio, pictures, and video.

Google Gemini: What is it?

The most recent large language model (LLM), Google Gemini, created by Google AI’s DeepMind, has sophisticated multimodal processing skills. It can comprehend, work with, and combine many kinds of data, such as text, code, audio, pictures, and videos.

This potent AI has three variants: Ultra, Pro, and Nano. Each version is intended to tackle a certain task’s level of complexity. Gemini has outperformed benchmarks and current industry norms. Its versatility across platforms and adherence to moral AI standards—which have been put through rigorous safety and bias testing—set it apart. Google intends to include Gemini in its offerings, available via Google Cloud Vertex AI and Google AI Studio. Notably, the Gemini Pro edition is perfect for various jobs and is offered for free.

How is Google Gemini used?

How you use Google Gemini depends on the integrated product and version. With Google Bard, for instance, users can submit questions and get answers on everything from weather predictions to poetry writing to coding help—all while being protected from offensive material.

Gemini Nano connects with Gboard for Pixel 8 Pro users, offering recommended responses in messaging applications like WhatsApp. Moreover, Nano may summarize offline recorded talks in the Recorder app.

Although Gemini Ultra’s functionality is unknown, it seems designed for complex activities and may be aimed at academics and business users. Its projected inclusion with Google’s chatbot, Bard Advanced, promises further exploration of opportunities when it is released.

GPT 4 vs Google Gemini: What’s the difference?

With its remarkable multimodal processing powers, Google Gemini excels at managing text, code, audio, photos, and movies. Its ability to integrate and manipulate many kinds of data allows for flexible interactions across several modalities, which is its main strength. Conversely, GPT models like as GPT-3 and maybe GPT-4 do very well in natural language tasks, but they may not have Gemini’s broad capabilities to handle a variety of data formats outside of text. Gemini is unique in that it can handle jobs with a variety of data formats because to its skill with multimodal inputs, while GPT models are mostly used for text-based tasks.

Google displayed the results of eight benchmarks that included text, with Gemini coming out on top in seven. Google claims that Gemini won every single one of the ten multimodal benchmarks.

Though it’s not quite that simple, it would appear to suggest that Gemini is the better method. Gemini is effectively catching up to a nine-month-old #AI tool, since GPT-4 was released in March 2023. It’s difficult to determine which tool is now superior since we don’t know how powerful OpenAI’s next GPT version will be.

Furthermore, Google limited the competition for Gemini Ultra to GPT-4. This indicates that although the current state of Gemini Pro and Nano’s ability to compete with GPT-4 is unknown, OpenAI’s model most likely outperforms Gemini Pro and Nano given the often narrow margins separating GPT-4 and Gemini Ultra.

In summary

With its multimodal proficiency, Google Gemini proves to be a capable multitasker in a future where artificial intelligence fuels human interactions. Although it leads in most benchmarks, the competition with GPT-4 is still close, making the victor of the race still to be announced. The competition for dominance between the two systems is still ongoing as they develop, indicating a bright future for AI research.

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On June 27, 2024, Huawei held the Global Launch of the 5G-A Pioneers Program at MWC Shanghai. The “driving shared success with 5G-A” event brought together pioneering 5G operators from around the world, including China’s “big three” as well as HKT, du, and Oman Telecommunications.

At the event, they talked about how to accelerate high-quality development of 5G-A networks and how to capitalize on opportunities in the emerging intelligent world to generate new market space for growth.

5G is the fastest-developing generation of mobile communications technology we have ever seen. The first operators to implement 5G have all experienced phased business success.

The first 5G-Advanced standards version, 3GPP version-18, was also officially locked on June 28, 2024, in Shanghai. This is a significant milestone for the 5G industry, as 2024 will be the first year of commercial 5G-A deployment.

David Wang, Huawei’s Executive Director of the Board and Chairman of the ICT Infrastructure Managing Board, gave a keynote address at the event titled “5G-A: Paving the Way for Shared Success”.

In his remarks, he stated that “5G-A will be the path forward.” It will protect existing investments while opening up new business opportunities by broadening commercial limits. As we look ahead to 2030, the industry as a whole will need to step up efforts to strengthen 5G-A technologies and promote the healthy development of 5G.

This is how we will assure the long-term viability of the 5G business while also improving the globe. Huawei looks forward to collaborating with the industry to create healthy 5G-A ecosystems, improve 5G-A standards, and participate in the advantages of 5G-A development. Together, we will make the intelligent world a reality faster.”

Third, Huawei and its operator partners jointly unveiled the 5G-A Pioneers Program and the six particular agreements signed during the launch event.

These agreements will maximize the value of advanced 5G-A capabilities, encourage 5G-A development, and propel the industry forward by fostering Pioneer Operators, Pioneer Cities, Business Model Upgrade, High-quality Networks, Service Innovation, and Thriving Ecosystems.

Huawei will continue to support operators’ innovation efforts in networks, services, and ecosystems as they strive for differentiated competitiveness in the 5G-A era. Their ultimate goal is to foster high-quality industry development while also enabling digital and intelligent transformation for a better and more intelligent future.

MWC Shanghai 2024 will take place from June 26 to June 28 in Shanghai, China. During the event, Huawei will display its most recent products and solutions at stands E10 and E50 in Hall N1 of the Shanghai New International Expo Centre.

The first year of commercial 5G-A will be in 2024, and F5G-A gigabit optical network deployment has already started. Synergies between networks, clouds, and intelligence are expected to result in pervasive intelligent applications and increasingly diversified user experiences.

At this year’s MWC Shanghai, Huawei will discuss exciting topics with global operators, industry professionals, and opinion leaders, such as how to amplify 5G’s success in the 5G-A era and how to capitalise on operator revenue growth to accelerate our journey to the intelligent world. For additional information, please visit: