The Japanese town of Fujikawaguchiko has erected a giant black net to block views of Mount Fuji, a reaction to the town’s huge popularity on Instagram and other social media platforms.
“It is regrettable that we had to take such measures,” a local official told CNN last month, when the town’s council decided to block the most popular Fuji views with a 66-foot-long (20-meter) black screen, which was erected on May 21.
The small town in Yamanashi prefecture has become the center of an international controversy in recent weeks. A specific viewpoint in Fujikawaguchiko, which is at the foot of Mount Fuji and near the starting point for one of the most-used trails up the mountain, became so popular with visitors that it was causing problems for locals.
This still feels like a misallocation on Japan’s side, though - either provincial or federal funding for trash pickup should be provided given the popularity of the site.
Japanese culture just doesn’t operate like that. They’re not used to needing trash cans everywhere because the Japanese take their trash with them. They take pride in not leaving a mess behind.
That’s fair, and there is no obligation for Japan to have a tourism industry… but if they’re going to have a tourism industry there are externalities that should be accounted for (even if it’d be awesome if people were less slobbish).