Japan tightens tourist rules

Japan is canceling at least one of its own tourist draws to deal with the crowds around it. Fujiyoshida said on February 3 that the 2026 Arakurayama Sengen Park Sakura Festival would not be held, after visitor numbers at peak bloom climbed past 10,000 people a day and residents reported trespassing, littering, and chronic traffic jams. (city.fujiyoshida.yamanashi.jp) That park is the place with the postcard view of the Chureito Pagoda, cherry blossoms, and Mount Fuji in one frame. Fujiyoshida’s tourism site now says plainly that the Sakura Matsuri will not be held in 2026 and warns visitors about parking limits and road controls during blossom season. (fujiyoshida.net) The pressure is not just one festival weekend. In its February notice, Fujiyoshida said the event had grown into a spring attraction drawing about 200,000 visitors a year, far beyond what nearby streets, toilets, and neighborhood infrastructure were built to handle. (city.fujiyoshida.yamanashi.jp) Japan’s answer is turning from promotion to traffic management. The Japan Tourism Agency says it is pushing “tourism crisis management” and “travel etiquette” measures as local governments deal with safety problems, congestion, and resident backlash in famous destinations. (mlit.go.jp) (japan.travel) One of the clearest tools is a hotel tax. Fujikawaguchiko’s accommodation-tax proposal says lodging taxes are a dedicated local levy on hotels, inns, and private rentals, and the town describes them as a funding source for tourism infrastructure rather than a general tax. (town.fujikawaguchiko.lg.jp) That idea is spreading well beyond Mount Fuji. Kyoto’s accommodation tax changed on March 1, 2026, and the city’s official guide now shows a much steeper scale: 200 yen for stays under 6,000 yen, 400 yen for 6,000 to under 20,000 yen, 1,000 yen for 20,000 to under 50,000 yen, 4,000 yen for 50,000 to under 100,000 yen, and 10,000 yen for 100,000 yen or more per person per night. (city.kyoto.lg.jp) Japan already has a national departure tax on top of those local charges. The Ministry of Finance says the International Tourist Tax is currently 1,000 yen each time a person leaves Japan by plane or ship, and the money is earmarked for things like faster border processing, visitor information, and upgrades at tourism sites. (mof.go.jp) So the country is now using two different levers at once: local lodging taxes to pay for crowded places on the ground, and a national exit tax to fund the wider tourism system. Around Mount Fuji, that has already moved from theory to visible restrictions, with festival cancellations, road controls, and tighter management at the exact spots that made the area famous in the first place. (city.fujiyoshida.yamanashi.jp) (fujiyoshida.net) (town.fujikawaguchiko.lg.jp) The result is a quieter but more expensive version of visiting Japan’s biggest icons. The country still wants tourists, but 2026 is showing that places like Fujiyoshida and Kyoto are no longer willing to absorb unlimited crowds without charging more and controlling where people go. (city.fujiyoshida.yamanashi.jp) (city.kyoto.lg.jp)