A vast barrier in a Japanese town intended to block views of Mount Fuji and deter bad tourist behaviour has already been vandalised, just a week after its installation. And in a perverse result, the screen has even become a tourist attraction in its own right, a local official has said.
The giant mesh screen, measuring 20m by 2.5m, was installed at a convenience store in the Yamanashi prefecture town of Fujikawaguchiko. Lawson’s convenience stores have a reputation of their own in Japan, famous for their chicken dishes, egg sandwiches, blocky upper-case logo, and, in some cases, store fronts decorated with cartoon characters.
And, creating an irresistible pairing of two Japanese icons, the Lawson’s in Fujikawaguchiko has an enviable backdrop, featuring the country’s unmistakeable snow-topped volcano. Yet locals had become increasingly disenchanted with the number of tourists stopping there to take pictures, causing traffic chaos and accidents, littering, and trespassing, just for the perfect shot.
The solution was drastic but thought to be foolproof. Block the view of Mount Fuji. However, a security guard at the convenience has told press that holes have begun appearing in the screen designed to do just that. The vandalism happens overnight or at quiet times, he said. “It’s about manners. It’s a shame,” the guard told AFP news agency, describing the holes as finger-sized but not big enough to take an unimpeded picture of the so-called “immortal” peak.
A local representative has confirmed (after trying it himself) that attempting to take a picture through holes in the screen was useless and resulted in photographs where “the net came into the frame.” However, in a turn of events that perhaps should have been foreseen, he also acknowledged that some tourists may now be coming to the spot in order to capture an image, not of Mount Fuji, but of the barrier blocking the view.
“There have been some people who came to see the screen itself,” he said. “But we have achieved the purpose of discouraging people from staying there.”
And, in a move that may again prove counter-productive, the town is planning to install QR codes on the screen to let tourists who stop there know of better places where they can take their time taking the perfect shot. It remains to be seen how long it will take to spread the word among the more than three million tourists now visiting Japan per month, according to record figures for March and April 2024.
