General News

Mesh Screen Hiding Mt. Fuji View Near Convenience Store in Yamanashi Pref. Partially Ripped

Courtesy of a person involved with the issue
A black mesh screen is seen with a rip that appeared to be intentionally torn in Fuji-Kawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, on Saturday.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:32 JST, June 25, 2024

FUJI-KAWAGUCHIKO, Yamanashi — Part of a black mesh screen that blocks the view of Mt. Fuji from a convenience store has been partially ripped again, it was learned Monday.

The town of Fuji-Kawaguchiko in Yamanashi Prefecture set up the screen to block out the view of Mt. Fuji from above the Kawaguchiko-ekimae Lawson store due to overtourism issues. The rip was about 15 centimeters long.

The Yomiuri Shimbun
A town government official repairs a ripped black mesh screen in Fuji-Kawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, on Monday.

A town government official found a roughly 10 centimeters-long vertical rip in the screen at eye level on Saturday morning, according to the town government’s urban maintenance division.

The town soon repaired the damage, but the same part of the screen was found ripped again on Monday morning. The rip was again repaired by stitching it up.

The light-weight black screen is meant for agricultural use and is 20 meters wide and 2.5 meters high.

The town government plans to replace the screen with a sturdier one.

The number of foreign tourists who stopped on sidewalks in an unruly manner to take photos of Mt. Fuji seen above the convenience store drastically decreased after the screen was set up, according to the town government and other sources.

Disruptive road crossings at the site that occurred often have also gone down.

Fuji-Kawaguchiko has received more than 300 opinions regarding the screen by telephone and email. Many of them were from people outside the ton who opposed it.

One caller unilaterally criticized the measure for over two hours and another used aggressive words to town officials.

In extreme cases, the town government receives several dozen telephone calls about the issue per day.

Fuji-Kawaguchiko’s urban maintenance division normally oversees civil engineering, roads, rivers and construction affairs.

The town government said the influx of the protests has obstructed the normal duties of the division. “We would like people to calmly watch what is happening,” a town government official said.