Japanese town overrun with tourists puts up view-blocking barrier near Mount Fuji

The Japanese town of Fujikawaguchiko has erected a giant black net to block views of Mount Fuji, a reaction to the town’s huge popularity on Instagram and other social media platforms.

“It is regrettable that we had to take such measures,” a local official told CNN last month, when the town’s council decided to block the most popular Fuji views with a 66-foot-long (20-meter) 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 specific viewpoint in Fujikawaguchiko, which is at the foot of Mount Fuji and near the starting point for one of the most-used trails up the mountain, became so popular with visitors that it was causing problems for locals.

VirtualOdour,

They would rather ruin their beauty than share it, truly sums up humanity.

They could have made an effort to make somewhere nice that benefits everyone.

stoly,

For me the real problem is that they were too short sighted to take advantage and make tons of money off of tourists.

jol,

The locals are supposed to be able to also enjoy their home town

VirtualOdour,

So the rich can buy up every good view and the stupid poors better not stink up the place by stopping to admire it?

jol,

Did you read the article? The tourists were damaging the place, leaving trash behind, and going into people’s private areas. No one wants route tourists in their backyard, rich or poor. There’s no lack of other tourist spots and view points to visit. .

redisdead,

With what money? Not yours I presume.

VirtualOdour,

Lemmy gets very capitalist right wing when it’s about denying other people small pleasures.

To answer your questipn - With the money used to build the ugly wall, money brought in by tourists, maybe have a little event to raise funding… endless possibilities.

The thought process ‘other people are stealing pleasure only I deserve’ is pure capitalist brainrot. We should all be working together to make life better, when someone in the countryside uses the internet or a modern tractor that can only happen because of people in cities and all the systems that make those jobs possible, we should acknowledge this and the burden modern living puts on our souls - we should want to help our fellow humans enjoy life where they can by making it easy to enjoy the world not section it off and put a big screen to stop people enjoying it

redisdead,

What tourism money?

Most visitors do not spend the night in Fujikawaguchiko, preferring to come in for a day trip but stay in busier Tokyo – just 62 miles (100 kilometers) away – at night.

This means that there’s no money coming in – from entry tickets, museum passes, or hotel fees – to balance out the damage caused by thousands of visitors or the erosion, trash and traffic issues they bring with them. As a result, the town of just 10,000 people has struggled to cope.

Maybe try reading before commenting if you don’t want to look like a blathering idiot.

Imagine thinking you deserve to be a nuisance just because there’s a nice view and then talk about capitalism brainrot.

VirtualOdour,

Yes they go there snd do nothing but look at the view, totally believable!

But yes the only option is to ruin it for everyone, honestly that does seem to be the predominant thinking these days

redisdead,

Read the article please it physically pains me arguing with someone that fucking stupid.

tigeruppercut,

Fujikawaguchiko

The town is called (Mt) Fuji River Mouth Lake… feels like when they established the place they could’ve edited it down a bit to make it roll off the tongue better. It’d be like a town in the US called Shastaportsmouthpond

linux2647,

I mean, it night roll right off the tongue in Japanese

Meron35,

Fujikawaguchiko is just the official name, most refer to it as Kawaguchiko (this is the main train station there).

Not that unusual in English either, e.g. Commonwealth of Massachusetts, State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Stratford-upon-Avon.

CluckN,

Tells tourists to leave

Shocked when tourist money leaves with them

tigeruppercut,

Most visitors do not spend the night in Fujikawaguchiko, preferring to come in for a day trip but stay in busier Tokyo – just 62 miles (100 kilometers) away – at night.

This means that there’s no money coming in – from entry tickets, museum passes, or hotel fees – to balance out the damage caused by thousands of visitors or the erosion, trash and traffic issues they bring with them. As a result, the town of just 10,000 people has struggled to cope.

catloaf,

Maybe they should set up a park and charge admission.

xmunk,

This still feels like a misallocation on Japan’s side, though - either provincial or federal funding for trash pickup should be provided given the popularity of the site.

Sir_Kevin,
@Sir_Kevin@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Japanese culture just doesn’t operate like that. They’re not used to needing trash cans everywhere because the Japanese take their trash with them. They take pride in not leaving a mess behind.

xmunk,

That’s fair, and there is no obligation for Japan to have a tourism industry… but if they’re going to have a tourism industry there are externalities that should be accounted for (even if it’d be awesome if people were less slobbish).

redisdead,

Most visitors do not spend the night in Fujikawaguchiko, preferring to come in for a day trip but stay in busier Tokyo – just 62 miles (100 kilometers) away – at night.

This means that there’s no money coming in – from entry tickets, museum passes, or hotel fees – to balance out the damage caused by thousands of visitors or the erosion, trash and traffic issues they bring with them. As a result, the town of just 10,000 people has struggled to cope.

Maybe try reading before commenting if you don’t want to look like a blathering idiot.

Tourism is cancer everywhere it happens.

pHr34kY,

TL;DR: Baka gaijin.

Shirasho,

I don’t understand how it is so hard for people to clean up after themselves. Our parks and trails in the US are filthy. There is trash on the ground and garbage cans 10 feet away.

It is really sad that they had to erect this barrier, but it is laughable that people can’t respect nature when the entire purpose of their visit is to admire it.

NOT_RICK,
@NOT_RICK@lemmy.world avatar

I have a trash grabber arm. I go to my local park to pick up trash every couple of months. I most recently did it on Earth day; the park was covered in trash again within 3 days. It drives me insane. I will say, some of it is due to open top garbage cans throughout the park, the wind can blow stuff right out of those which reminds me that I need to call the Parks and Rec department. I expect they’ll tell me they have no budget for closed cans.

Chee_Koala,

I was looking for retractable grabbers, I’d like to do a bit of trash picking but not my full 18km walk. Normal grabbers are a bit awkward to stow away. My own local searches (NL) came up 🫗 empty

NOT_RICK,
@NOT_RICK@lemmy.world avatar

Yeah mine is definitely awkward. I had a plastic grabber that broke very quickly so now I have a sturdier metal one that doesn’t stow away well, but I know it will last a while at a minimum.

Badeendje,
@Badeendje@lemmy.world avatar

I have (and love) this one: afvalgrijper.com/…/24813,flora-afvalgrijper-105-c….

Don’t go for the cheap plastic ones they break. But I have also been informed that a lot of municipalities will give you one if you ask. Contact your afvalstoffen dienst.

Just attach a sling and carry it on your back… or attach it to the side of your backpack. Retractable just breaks unfortunately.

warm,

Poor upbringings. It's easy to become a parent, but it isn't easy to be a parent.

FlyingSquid,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

It’s always nice when you can find a park most people don’t know about. The only disadvantage is sometimes the trails aren’t really well-maintained, so you come out with your legs covered in ticks.

Confound4082,

I live in an area infested with ticks. Going out with into fields/woods with no protection means pulling dozens at a minimum, though my neighbor pulled over 100 off a couple weeks ago.

My solution is elastic gaiters and using permetharin as bug spray. I don’t get ticks anymore.

I’m also kind of allergic to ticks, and if I get bit, it itches so bad for about two weeks that topical lidocaine is the only way I’ve found to get some relief.

Confound4082,

I live in an area infested with ticks. Going out with into fields/woods with no protection means pulling dozens at a minimum, though my neighbor pulled over 100 off a couple weeks ago.

My solution is elastic gaiters and using permetharin as bug spray. I don’t get ticks anymore.

I’m also kind of allergic to ticks, and if I get bit, it itches so bad for about two weeks that topical lidocaine is the only way I’ve found to get some relief.

FlyingSquid,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

Ticks have been really bad here this year. I have found one on either me or my small dog (never the large one) every day for the last week or so. The dogs are on Trifexis, which prevents ticks from biting amongst other things, but it doesn’t prevent them from hiding out in a dog’s fur until something better comes along.

Sylos,

If the winter seasons don’t get cold enough for long enough, the ticks don’t really die out so their numbers are going to be much worse

Cyberjin,
  • Lack of trash cans.
  • The ones they have are full.
Passerby6497,

Lack of trash cans.

Which they tell you about before you ever step on the trail, and tell you to take everything you bring in back out. It’s not hard in the slightest to put your garbage in your pack/pockets till you leave, but people are selfish, lazy fucks who can’t even do the minimum and respect the space.

The ones they have are full.

Which is why they don’t have them in a lot of places. Because being there and full is worse than not having them at all, since people just keep throwing shit on the pile.

/rant

Cyberjin, (edited )

They got rid of trashcans because of a terror incident and they saved a lot money by doing so (less workers).

Who wouldn’t pile their trash? Who knows where&when the next empty trashcan comes along in Japan.

So the fix is to have people changing them more often + even having more available, but that would require more work and money… blaming foreigners are just easier @

Mini rant Japan also has a lot of unnecessary packaging and the birds can be very aggressive when trash is exposed, which doesn’t help.

Passerby6497,

So the fix is to have people changing them more often + even having more available, but that would require more work and money… blaming foreigners are just easier

It has nothing to do with blaming foreigners, my local parks here in the US are all carry in/carry out parks with lots of signs posted stating as such, and it’s not a massive problem.

I’m absolutely going to blame lazy fucks who can’t hold onto a bit of trash long enough to get to a trashcan or who can’t be bothered to clean up after themselves. Blaming it on lack of trash cans merely offsets responsibility and ignores that park cams are a magnet for wildlife and lead to trash blowing out of them

So the fix is to clean up your own goddamned trash and take it with you when you leave.

Not a hard concept…

Badeendje,
@Badeendje@lemmy.world avatar

Anyone caught littering is convicted to 200 hours of community service in which they have to pickup trash wearing a bright orange coverall that says litterbug while wearing a helmet with a signal light on top.

This should be a very humiliating experience.

Cyberjin,

The concept isn’t hard I agree, but it’s clearly a on going problem so, have more options is more convenient and could solve the issue.

Long enough to get a trashcan? Well see that’s one of problems. A) finding one. B) an empty one.

pHr34kY,

I visited last year. The way they handle trash is just black magic. There are almost no bins on the street. Everything is in disposable packaging. Yet, there is absolutely no litter.

The craziest example was Asakusa. I was walking around for 30 mins.holding about 10 food wrappers in my hand. Eventually a nice merchant offered me a plastic bag to put it all in when I purchased a drink.

Cyberjin,

Yeah things can get bit tricky 😂 Especially when you buy a lot food & drinks. The average japanese person doesn’t buy a lot.

tiredofsametab,

Which all of us who live in Japan have no issue handling, including when we travel. This is a shit excuse.

Cyberjin,

Yeah Japanese are known to be the best tourists abroad. It something someone learns by their society/culture (though I see odd balls here and there)

Tourists are not going to learn over short term and some are pigs aure. By having more available transcans will improve the situation.

What’s your solution then? Just telling them?

tiredofsametab,

I mean, littering is illegal basically everywhere. If there are no trashcans, just hold the thing until you get to one. At least during festivals and such, you will see people piling trash next to full trashcans as neatly as possible, to cover your other case. "Don't litter" doesn't sound like a huge ask. As stated in the article, many of these people aren't even staying in town and I know that station has (or at least had every time I went there) trashcans on the train platform. Convenience stores also have trashcans in front of and/or in the store that customers are welcome to use.

Cyberjin,

Yeah You would think people had better manners.

Sadly only a few convenient store has them. And I haven’t seen any trashcans at stations for a long time.

If you are in Japan and up for a challenge. I’ll buy you an ice cream, then you have find transcan before it melts and creates a mess.

tiredofsametab,

Convenience stores nearly all have trashcans in my experience. I guess maybe not a street vendor? But, in most cases, what you buy is going to come in some bag that you can use or, in the case of certain parks, will actually have trashcans. I do live in Japan, but rural northern Japan as of a few months ago.

Cyberjin,

Okay let me know when you come to Tokyo. I’ll buy an ice cream 😂

mlg,
@mlg@lemmy.world avatar

Russian bias strikes again /s

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