Tokyo, April 27, 2024 – Mount Fuji – the sacred and highest mountain of Japanwith its 3,776 meters, and a well-known volcano – it was too ‘abused’ by tourists. So the authorities take action and decide to cover up the giant with a barrier.
A ‘painful decision’, he explains the Fuji-Kawaguchiko administrationa city of 26 thousand inhabitants that is lucky enough to have that background.
Tourists assault Mount Fuji
According to what the Japanese press says, the residents’ peace ended in the autumn of two years ago, when a foreign influencer posted a photo of the sacred mountain, a UNESCO world heritage site behind a mini-market.
Since hundreds of visitors they continued to gather on the side of the road every day to take photos, regardless of passing cars, with the constant danger of collisions.
Blocked traffic and waste just to take a photo
The municipal administration has received several reports of blocked access to sidewalks due to excessive crowding and accumulation of garbage. In March last year the municipality put up signs in English, Chinese and Thai asking people to stop parking illegally, to use pedestrian crossings and not to leave rubbish on the pavement, and then to put a security guard on sitewithout any tangible results.
What the barrier will be like
In addition to giant plastic sheet in front of the mini-marketsome will also be placed steel barriers three meters wide to prevent people from crossing the road.
“We wanted foreign visitors to enjoy the view, but we didn’t see a decrease in bad behavior,” said Masakazu Togawa, tourism councilor of the city of Fuji-Kawaguchiko. “The attendance continued to increase, and the installation of the barrier was a painful but inevitable decision for us”. Will it be enough to make the undisciplined give up?
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