- A curtain erected by a Japanese town to block out Mount Fuji has already had holes in it, a local official told AFP.
- Officials said 10 finger-sized holes have been found since the nets were put up last week.
- Authorities installed the barrier after tourists flocked to the area, littering and trespassing.
It's been about a week since a Japanese resort installed eight-foot-tall wire fences to block beautiful views of Mount Fuji that were causing tourists to flock to nearby businesses.
But authorities in Fujikawaguchiko have already found holes in the black netting, a town official told AFP on Tuesday.
“It's a matter of etiquette. It's unfortunate,” said the official, who asked not to be named, adding that about 10 finger-sized holes have been found so far.
He said a guard was stationed at the curtain between 10am and 4pm and the hole must have been made while they were away, according to AFP.
Still, officials said the barrier largely serves its purpose, dispersing photo-obsessed tourists.
Officials installed the 65-foot-long net last week after local residents and businesses complained that badly behaved tourists were crowding into the Lawson convenience store.
From across the street, the snow-capped peak of Mount Fuji towers over the shop's roof, a view that has become famous on social media.
But people who live and work in the town say tourists often litter, skip crossings, disrupt traffic and trespass in their quest for the perfect shot.
A nearby dental clinic released a statement on May 1 saying tourists were parking in patient parking spaces, eating, drinking and smoking under people's homes, and yelling at staff when they asked them to move.
The clinic added that the curtains would obscure the entrance from the road and block a vital vehicle exit, but the mesh was an “unavoidable measure” to tackle tourist confusion.
“Local residents' lives are in chaos,” a town official told the Mainichi Shimbun. “The increase in foreign tourists over the past few months has pushed us beyond our limits.”
The influx of tourists to Fujikawaguchiko highlights a surge in foreign tourists visiting Japan since the COVID-19 pandemic. About 25 million foreign tourists are expected to visit Japan in 2023, compared with just 3.8 million the previous year, according to government statistics.
That's still lower than the previous record of 31 million tourists to Japan in 2019. But tourist numbers in January, February and March this year were up about 70% to 88% compared with the same periods in 2023, putting the country on pace to match pre-pandemic totals.
Tourists spent about $11.2 billion in the past three months, and the Japanese government wants to increase tourism to 60 million a year by 2030.
