The Japanese city of Fujikawaguchiko has erected a giant black net to block views of Mount Fuji, a reaction to the city’s huge popularity on Instagram and other social media platforms.
“It is regrettable that we have to take such measures,” a local official told CNN last month, when the city council decided to block Fuji’s most popular views with a 20-meter-long black screen, which was erected on May 21.
The small town in Yamanashi Prefecture has become the center of an international controversy in recent weeks. A particular viewpoint in Fujikawaguchiko, which is at the foot of Mount Fuji and close to the starting point of one of the most used trails up the mountain, had become so popular with visitors that it was causing problems for local residents.
The situation got so bad that even companies with no connection to tourism participated. The Ibishi Dental Clinic, located in the building next to the photo location, is one of them. According to the clinic, its staff and patients had to deal with harassment from tourists.
“There were a number of nuisance illegal activities such as leaving rubbish, trespassing on premises, smoking, eating in the car park or under the roofs of private houses and trespassing on rooftops, which often resulted in calls to the police,” said a statement released by clinic. “It became common for people to shout insults at us or throw away their cigarettes while they were still lit when we asked them to move their cars.”
The statement added that the photo spot “attracts a constant stream of foreigners from early in the morning until late at night, and even local residents are unable to communicate with them when alerted to them in Japanese.”
Ibishi Dental Clinic confirms that it was one of the companies that asked Fujikawaguchiko employees to address the issue.
The problems of excessive tourism in Japan
Since Japan reopened to foreign tourists after the pandemic, “revenge travelers” invaded the country and its most popular attractions. More than three million people visited the country per month in March and April 2024, and the record-breaking trend appears on track to continue as North American and European tourists plan their summer vacations.
Although overtourism is a problem across the world, from Paris for Hawaii, Fujikawaguchiko’s story is notable for several reasons. In this case, it’s not a specific attraction that brings crowds of visitors – it’s a viewpoint where people like to take photos of Mount Fuji. The viewpoint is in front of a convenience store, with people standing on the road to take the best photo.
Most visitors do not spend the night in Fujikawaguchiko, preferring to make a day trip but stay in Tokyo’s busiest city – just 100 kilometers away – at night.
This means no money coming in – from entry tickets, museum passes or hotel fees – to compensate for the damage caused by thousands of visitors or the erosion, trash and traffic problems they bring with them. As a result, the city of just 10,000 people has struggled to cope.
“I have seen people walking on the roads, people using electronic devices [scooters] without following traffic rules and getting involved in accidents. There have been many accidents involving foreign tourists recently,” Haruhito Tsuchiya, a 49-year-old local resident who works in the tourism industry, told Reuters.
Lawson’s, the convenience store across from Fuji that often appears in social media photos of the mountain, also said will take measures to contain the flow of misbehaving tourists.
“We offer our sincere apologies to local residents, customers of these stores and others for inciting inconvenience and concern due to the popularization of the Lawson Kawaguchiko station branch,” the company said in a May 5 statement.
Lawson’s added that it would hire private security guards for the Kawaguchiko store and put up signs in several languages asking tourists not to litter or block roads.
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