Japanese Officials Are Building an 8-Foot Fence to Block Mount Fuji Views for Tourists
The town of Fujikawaguchiko is trying to combat overtourism.
Much like the residents of Hallstatt, Austria last year, the Japanese town of Fujikawaguchiko is currently beefing with tourist photographers. And exactly like Hallstatt, Fujikawaguchiko—which is located roughly 62 miles west of Tokyo—is trying to solve the problem in a very petty (yet effective!) way.
Fujikawaguchiko's residents have had enough with tourists incessantly crowding one specific spot (in front of Lawson's, the Japanese convenience store chain) to take a photo featuring the iconic Mount Fuji in the background. To deter them from coming, the town has decided to erect a large mesh barrier, so that photos will ultimately be ruined, CNN reports.
Last year, Hallstatt took similar steps, and put up wooden boards to prevent tourists from crowding a viewpoint and taking pictures of the castle that inspired the Disney hit movie Frozen. The issue was the same as that of the small Japanese town. Overtourism (and therefore overcrowding) is not sustainable, and leads to huge amounts of trash left behind. Plus, it worsens traffic congestion, a local Japanese official told CNN.
According to officials, the mesh net will be built on the site next week, and it will be eight feet tall and 66 feet across. It is yet unclear if the net will be a temporary or permanent solution to the issue.
Communities across the world are taking many different approaches right now to counter the negative impacts overtourism is having for locals, but this is among the more creative strategies in play. Many cities and countries are looking to institute new tourism taxes or increase existing ones to draw in more money from the visitors to offset their impacts.