Fuji views overflowing
If you were thinking of a spring trip to see Mount Fuji and the cherry blossoms, know it’s stunning right now — and crowded enough to be a real headache for locals. ( ). Tourist pressure around Lake Kawaguchi and nearby towns has surged — some towns now see more than 10,000 visitors a day — and Tokyo’s inbound numbers remain strong (Japan recorded 3.47 million foreign visitors in February 2026), which has prompted new tourism taxes aimed at reining in growth. ( ).
A postcard view turned into a neighborhood problem in Fujiyoshida, where a viral shot of Mount Fuji behind a red pagoda and cherry blossoms pulled so many visitors that city officials canceled this year’s cherry blossom festival in February. On April 8, tourists still packed the area anyway, lining narrow residential streets for the same photo. (abcnews.com) Residents in Fujiyoshida told officials they were dealing with traffic jams, litter, tourists knocking on private doors to use toilets, and even people urinating in front yards. The city said foreign visitors have topped 10,000 a day in recent years around the Arakurayama Sengen Park area. (abcnews.com) The city’s response started on April 1, when Fujiyoshida added more security guards and blocked tour buses and other vehicles from entering the scenic neighborhood. Visitors now have to walk in, which is a simple way to slow the flood without closing the park itself. (abcnews.com) This is happening in the Fuji Five Lakes area, where Lake Kawaguchi has become one of Japan’s most photographed spring stops because it can frame snow on the mountain and blossoms at the same time. That combination lasts only a short window in April, so crowds arrive all at once instead of spreading out over a season. (lake-kawaguchiko.com) The pressure is bigger than one town because Japan’s inbound travel boom is still running hot. Japan logged 3.47 million foreign visitors in February 2026, the highest February total on record, with South Korea at 1.09 million and Taiwan at 693,600. (msn.com) National policy is pulling in two directions at once. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government wants inbound travel to rise from about 40 million now to 60 million by 2030, even as towns like Fujiyoshida, Kyoto, and Kamakura complain that buses, sidewalks, and toilets were never built for that volume. (abcnews.com) Japan already has an international departure tax, and the Japan Tourism Agency says that revenue is being used to strengthen tourism infrastructure. At the same time, the agency is openly funding programs to prevent and suppress overtourism, which shows how the country is now trying to grow tourism and contain it at the same time. (mlit.go.jp 1) (mlit.go.jp 2) So the Mount Fuji spring crush is no longer just a travel fantasy sold on social media. In Fujiyoshida, one famous photo spot now comes with guards, vehicle restrictions, a canceled festival, and a city government saying daily life in an ordinary residential neighborhood is being pushed past its limit. (channelnewsasia.com)
