A Japanese city installed a large chain-link fence at a popular Mount Fuji viewing point on Tuesday, in a bid to deter an ever-increasing number of tourists from taking photos.
Japan’s most famous landmark is visible from miles around, but residents of Fujikawaguchiko are fed up with floods of mostly foreign visitors littering, trespassing and breaking city rules. circulation in their quest for a photo to share on social networks.
Parking illegally and ignoring the smoking ban, they crowd the sidewalk to photograph the snow-capped mountain rising photogenically into the sky behind a convenience store, residents said.
Workers began setting up the black netting measuring 2.5 by 20 meters (eight by 65 feet) on Tuesday, and by late morning they had already finished, said an AFP journalist at the scene. .
“I hope the Internet will prevent dangerous activities,” Michie Motomochi, 41, who runs a traditional Japanese sweet shop, told AFP.
“I think it’s disappointing that they’re putting this up. It’s obviously an iconic photo,” said Christina Roys, 36, a tourist from New Zealand.
“But it’s completely understandable. We were here last night, we managed to take the last photo before they put up the wall, and there were so many people,” she said.
“It’s quite dangerous because of the traffic passing by. There are other places where you can take photos of the mountain.”
– Online reservations –
Record numbers of foreign tourists are arriving in Japan, where monthly visitors topped three million for the first time in March and again in April.
But as in other tourist hotspots, such as Venice – which recently launched a trial of entry fees for day visitors – the influx has not been universally welcomed.
In Kyoto, Japan’s ancient capital, residents have complained about harassment of tourists by the city’s famous geisha.
And hikers taking the most popular route to climb Mount Fuji this summer will be charged 2,000 yen ($13) each, with admissions capped at 4,000 to ease traffic congestion.
A new online reservation system for the mountain’s Yoshida Trail opened Monday to guarantee hikers entry through a new gate, although 1,000 spots per day will be held on entry day.
Mount Fuji is covered in snow most of the year, but during the hiking season from July to September, more than 220,000 visitors trudge up its steep, rocky slopes.
Many climb all night to see the sunrise, and some attempt to reach the 3,776-meter (12,388-foot) summit without a break, becoming ill or injured as a result.
Regional officials have raised safety and environmental concerns over overcrowding at the active volcano, a symbol of Japan and a once-peaceful pilgrimage site.
Residents near other popular photo spots in the area, including the Fuji Dream Bridge, have also reportedly complained about overtourism in recent weeks.
A tour operator who offers day trips from Tokyo to the Mount Fuji area told AFP he takes visitors to another nearby Lawson store, where a similar view can be seen, but where there has fewer residents nearby.
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