Holes poked in Mount Fuji view barrier, Japan town says
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Workers installing a mesh barrier on May 21 to block the sight of Japan's Mount Fuji emerging from behind a convenience store in the town of Fujikawaguchiko.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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Tokyo – A Japanese town that mounted a huge barrier to deter unruly tourists from taking photos of Mount Fuji said on May 28 that around 10 small holes had already been poked into the mesh screen.
The barrier was put up a week ago
A town official told AFP that the screen made of black netting had achieved its goal of dispersing crowds on a narrow pavement across the road from a convenience store.
Although a security guard is there between 10am and 4pm, the small holes appear to have been created in the morning or evening while no one was watching, he said.
“It’s about manners. It’s a shame,” the official said of the holes, big enough to fit a finger through but perhaps too small to capture the Instagram-friendly juxtaposition of the snow-capped volcano emerging from behind the store.
“I tried to put a camera up to one of the holes. Did I take a good picture? In fact, I think the net came into the frame,” the official said.
Since the netting measuring 2.5m by 20m was installed on May 21, “there have been some people who came to see the screen itself”, he added.
“But we have achieved the purpose of discouraging people from staying there.”
The town, beside a scenic volcanic lake, now plans to place QR codes on the barrier to introduce the area’s other tourist attractions, including alternative places to take photos of Mount Fuji.
When the spot in front of the convenience store becomes less popular online, the town may then take down the screen, the official said.
Record numbers of overseas tourists are coming to Japan, where monthly visitors exceeded three million for the first time in March and then again in April.
But as in other tourist hot spots, such as Venice, which recently launched a trial of entry fees for day visitors, the influx has not been universally welcomed.
In Japan’s ancient capital of Kyoto, locals have complained of tourists harassing the city’s famed geisha.
Hikers using the most popular route to climb Mount Fuji this summer will be charged 2,000 yen (S$17) each plus an optional 1,000 yen donation, with entries capped at 4,000 to ease congestion in the area. AFP
