Japanese firm’s hiking app helps rescuers locate stranded climbers

A popular hiking app developed by a Japanese firm has become a useful tool for rescuers to locate stranded people on mountains, with the GPS technology enabling exact locations to be shared even when cell phone connections are cut.

Yamap Inc., a tech company based in Fukuoka in southwestern Japan, said it has been contacted by police, relief teams and others seeking the app data on 200 cases in 2022, sharply up from 46 in 2020 and 89 in 2021.

A total of 16 prefectural police forces across Japan, including in Iwate, Miyagi, Shizuoka, Nagano and Kumamoto, have signed an agreement with the compan...