Overview
- Fujiyoshida scrapped this year's sakura festival and, at the start of the blossom season, began barring tour buses and most vehicles from the neighborhood around Arakurayama Sengen Park.
- Visitors now must reach the park on foot under tighter security, a move city officials say is needed to protect residents in a residential area not built for mass tourism.
- Foreign arrivals have topped 10,000 a day in recent years, which the city said has threatened daily life and safety for people who live near the view of Mount Fuji and the red pagoda.
- Residents reported jams on narrow streets, litter left after snack stops, tourists knocking on doors to use private toilets, and even people relieving themselves in yards.
- The surge has revived some shops and parking lots while disrupting routines for others, and it mirrors crowding complaints in Kyoto and Kamakura as Japan still targets 60 million inbound visitors by 2030.