One of the simplest deterrents to overtourism and bad visitor behaviour seen this year has been deemed successful; so successful that it has become unnecessary.
Background
A black mesh barrier was erected in May 2024 in the town of Fujikawaguchiko, Japan, to block a view of Mount Fuji and discourage tourists from jaywalking and swamping the area with badly parked cars and litter.
The touristic furore was created by a vista that combined two Japanese icons: the instantly-recognisable volcano, Japan’s tallest peak, sitting just a few kilometres behind a typically Japanese “Lawson” convenience store, with its distinctive blue and white signage sporting an “old west” style typeface.
So many visitors descended on the area to capture the ultimate Japanese Instagram souvenir, that locals became fed up with their behaviour. One resident told the BBC at the time that: “They cross the street and they don’t seem to care about the cars at all, it is dangerous. And they leave trash and cigarette butts everywhere.”
As a result of complaints, the mesh screen was installed to block the view and make stopping there for a selfie or a landscape photograph pointless. Despite a few tourists who initially poked holes in the screen to get their cameras through or, ironically, came to take pictures of the celebrity screen itself, the measure has now been judged to have worked.
Effective
“There are still some people who come to the place, but we no longer find many people suddenly rushing out into the traffic to cross the road. We feel like it has been effective,” a local official told Agence France Press.
That effectiveness has meant that when a typhoon warning blew in around mid-August, the screen was taken down, and there are no plans at present to replace it.
“We wanted to see what would happen,” the official said. Hopefully locals can now continue to enjoy the place where they live and its views without an influx of visitors spoiling things for everyone. But, the same official warned, the barrier will be reinstated if there is a repeat outbreak of anti-social behaviour.
“Screaming” with overtourism
The saga of the Mount Fuji screen is not the only evidence of overtourism’s negative effects in the area. Another nearby town was forced to introduce fencing to prevent jaywalking near its famous “dream bridge”, a structure that offers a renowned symmetrical view of the peak.
And the UNESCO-listed volcano itself has been described by authorities as “screaming” due to the huge footfall it attracts, meaning caps on visitor numbers and entry fees have been brought in for those wishing to complete its most popular trails.
