Police told AFP the Chinese university student, who lives in Japan, was found Saturday by another off-season hiker on a trail more than 3,000m above sea level.

“He was suspected of having altitude sickness and was taken to hospital,” a police spokesman in Shizuoka region said today.

Later, officers discovered that the man was the same one who had been rescued on Mount Fuji four days previously, private broadcaster TBS and other media outlets reported.

Police could not immediately confirm the reports, which said the man – having been rescued by helicopter on Tuesday – returned on Friday to retrieve his mobile phone, which he forgot to bring with him during the first rescue.

It was not known whether he was able to find his phone in the end, said the reports, citing unnamed sources.

Mount Fuji, an active volcano and Japan’s highest peak, is covered in snow for most of the year.

Its hiking trails are open from early July to early September, a period when crowds trudge up the steep, rocky slopes through the night to see the sunrise.

People are dissuaded from hiking outside of the summer season because conditions can be treacherous.

The symmetrical 3,776m mountain has been immortalised in countless artworks, including Hokusai’s “Great Wave”.

It last erupted around 300 years ago.

In a bid to prevent overcrowding on Mount Fuji, authorities last year brought in an entry fee and cap on numbers for the most popular Yoshida Trail.

Starting this summer, hikers on any of Mount Fuji’s four main trails will be charged an entry fee of ¥4,000.