Tourism 'Mt. Fuji Dream Bridge' promotion backfires

The Instagram herd at Mt. Fuji Dream Bridge

The city government's website encourages visitors to share photos taken at the place on social media, but also urges them to take pictures quietly. It also has posted signs around the area warning tourists in several languages and provides free parking. But these efforts have proved ineffective, as illegal parking and trespassing on private property in a nearby residential area continued, prompting residents to install signs warning visitors off. "It's troublesome because travellers speak loudly from early in the morning," one local woman complained, while another questioned if a single resident thinks the tourist attraction is worth the trouble. A similar problem plagued another popular Mt. Fuji photo spot in neighbouring Yamanashi Prefecture, where fences were temporarily erected before a convenience store to prevent jaywalking by tourists trying to capture images of the iconic mountain towering above it.

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Local reaction to Mount Fuji photo hunters causing major regrets - The Mainichi

SHIZUOKA (Kyodo) -- A local government's decision to promote a bridge as the perfect spot for an Instagramable shot of Mt. Fuji has backfired, with re

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Photo credit: Yoshimura Shigeo via Asahi

Starting next spring, a 17-vehicle parking lot available for tourists will be closed for construction on the national route connected to the Mount Fuji Dream Bridge. New parking facilities will be needed for visitors. In addition, some foreign tourists linger on crosswalks. The installation of pictograms and colour-coded guidance signs has been proposed as a solution to the problem. However, Fuji city's revenue from tourism has soared since it made peace with the bridge visitors. In the first half of the last fiscal year, the number of overnight stays at all hotels in the city jumped 21-fold year on year. According to the Fujisan Tourism and Communication Bureau, a general incorporated association, the tourist information centre at Shin-Fuji Station served 12,385 foreign visitors last fiscal year, a 30-percent increase from the previous year. Most Mount Fuji climbers pass through Fuji city en route to Japan's highest peak. The municipal government had earlier encouraged visitors to stay in Fuji, but the tourists largely bypassed the city's accommodation facilities.

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