Mount Fuji crowds roar
A town below Mount Fuji says cherry-blossom crowds chasing the classic photo have overwhelmed residents, sparking complaints about traffic, litter and 'tourism pollution.' AP reported local backlash as viral hanami tourism swamped the area, and Japan is responding with national policy moves — raising the international departure tax to 3,000 yen in July and rolling out a 2026–2030 tourism plan aimed at 60 million visitors while trying to redirect flows to regional spots; one cherry-blossom festival has already been canceled amid the push. (apnews.com) (ftnnews.com) (travelandtourworld.com) (travelandtourworld.com)
A single photo angle turned a quiet town under Mount Fuji into a spring crush point, and Fujiyoshida officials say the crowds now bring traffic jams, litter, trespassing and what residents call “tourism pollution.” Tourists are packing Arakurayama Sengen Park for the shot of Mount Fuji behind the Chureito pagoda and cherry blossoms. (apnews.com) The town says the problem is scale. Associated Press reported that as many as 10,000 visitors a day can flood the area during peak blossom season, even though the viewpoint sits inside an ordinary residential neighborhood. (apnews.com) Fujiyoshida already took the unusual step of canceling its 2026 cherry blossom festival at Arakurayama Sengen Park after about a decade of running it. The city said the event had been drawing about 200,000 people a year and that “the quiet lives of local residents are threatened.” (abc.net.au) Residents’ complaints were not just about crowds on sidewalks. City officials cited cigarette butts, people entering private property, and even defecation in private gardens as the tourist surge spilled out from the park into nearby streets. (abc.net.au) This is happening inside a much bigger tourism boom. Japan logged about 42.7 million inbound visitors in 2025, up from nearly 37 million in 2024, and February 2026 alone set a monthly record at roughly 3.47 million visitors. (ftnnews.com, abc.net.au) Japan is not backing away from tourism. The government kept its goal of 60 million inbound visitors by 2030, but it is now pairing that with a plan to spread people out beyond Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka and to push more anti-congestion measures into regional destinations. (ftnnews.com) One tool is money. Japan will raise its international departure tax from 1,000 yen to 3,000 yen on July 1, 2026, and the charge applies to both foreign travelers and Japanese citizens leaving by air or sea. (ftnnews.com, travelvoice.jp) Another tool is steering tourists somewhere else. The government says it wants the number of regions using overtourism countermeasures to rise from 47 in 2025 to 100 by 2030, with subsidies for local governments to ease congestion, curb bad behavior and in some cases limit visitor numbers. (ftnnews.com) Japan is also testing the idea that visitors and locals should not always pay the same price for crowded attractions. Focus on Travel News reported that Himeji Castle raised admission for non-residents to 2,500 yen while keeping it at 1,000 yen for residents, and the government is considering broader guidance on that kind of dual pricing. (ftnnews.com) Fujiyoshida shows the bind Japan is in. The country wants 60 million visitors by 2030, but one viral blossom photo has already been enough to make a town of ordinary homes decide that even a successful festival is no longer worth holding. (ftnnews.com, apnews.com, abc.net.au)
