Japan will block the view of Mount Fuji from a popular Instagram spot because of unruly tourists

The network, reaching a height of 2.5 meters and a length of 20 meters, could be stretched as early as next week, according to The Guardian, one of the city officials said. “We are sorry to have to do this, but some tourists do not respect the rules,” the official said. He pointed out, among other things, that tourists leave trash behind and violate traffic regulations.

The nearly symmetrical active volcano Mount Fuji, which is 3,776 meters tall, is located southwest of Tokyo and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Japan’s highest mountain can be photographed from various places in the city of Fujikawaguchiko, but the viewpoint where Mount Fuji rises behind one of the Lawson chain stores, which are typical for Japan, is particularly popular.

Due to the aforementioned combination, “information spread on social networks that this place is very Japanese,” a city official told The Guardian. According to him, mostly foreign tourists are constantly filling up a section of the sidewalk in front of the Lawson store.

The measure is also meant to protect a nearby dental clinic from tourists, some of whom park in the area without permission and even climb onto the building’s roof to get the perfect shot, the official said.

The city expressed its regret that it had to resort to “extreme measure”, but it is far from the only one that is troubled by crowds of unruly tourists. Starting this summer, tourists who want to climb Mount Fuji will have to pay a fee of ¥2,000 (CZK 298). The Japanese authorities decided to charge because the trail is overcrowded, which raises the risk of accidents and worries about the destruction of the environment in the area.

In turn, due to overcrowding and inappropriate behavior, the city of Kyoto will ban tourists from entering the side streets of the Gion district, the traditional home of geisha and one of the most popular destinations for visitors to Kyoto.

A record number of tourists are now heading to Japan; in March, the number of monthly visitors exceeded three million for the first time, writes The Guardian. Most people come to Japan from South Korea, followed by Taiwan and China, reports the Japanese news agency Kyodo.