You've got
that wallpaper photo: the red pagoda, cherry trees, and snow-capped volcano in
the background. It's the perfect postcard image, but the reality behind the
scenes has become so disgusting that the local government has said
"enough". The canceled Mount Fuji festival has been
confirmed to be a reality for this year in Fujiyoshida, and the blame lies with
the rude tourists who have turned the neighborhood into a public restroom.
What began
10 years ago as a strategy to attract visitors to Arakurayama Sengen Park,
today is a nightmare for the area's 45,000 residents. With less than two months
to go before the cherry trees bloom, the authorities decided to cut to the
chase in the face of a wave of "overtourism" that has crossed all the
limits of human decency.
Details
of the cancelled Mount Fuji festival and the shameful behavior
We're not
just talking about people getting in the way for a selfie. The complaints of
the neighbors seem to be taken from an urban horror movie. The
"invasion" has led to untenable situations that forced Mayor Shigeru
Horiuchi to prioritize the dignity of his people over tourism money. The
list of grievances includes:
- Invasion of property: Tourists entering private
homes without permission.
- Improvised bathrooms: People urinating and
defecating in residents' gardens.
- Search: Opening doors of other
people's houses to try to use their bathrooms.
- Road hazard: Block sidewalks, forcing
children going to school to walk down the street in traffic.
- Trash: Cigarette butts and waste
everywhere.
What
will happen to the eyesight?
Be careful,
the fact that they cancel the festival (that is, the food stalls and the
official promotion) does not mean that they are going to close the park with a
padlock. The cherry trees will still bloom and the viewpoint will remain open,
but the city will no longer actively invite anyone. In fact, they know that
people will go anyway, so they will deploy extra security and portable toilets
to try and contain the disaster.
It's ironic:
the place is so beautiful that it attracts thousands, but those thousands
behave so badly that they are killing tradition.
