‘Great Wall of Japan': Why is Fuji town building an 8-ft high barrier?

Despite repeated warnings to visitors through signage as well as deployment of security guards, the situation in Japanese town of Fujikawaguchiko at the foot of the fabled Mount Fuji, has worsened, forcing the authorities to take extreme measures, CNN reported on Saturday.

Citing persistent problems with tourists failing to follow the traffic rules and trash the town, officials of the Japan's Fuji town are not happy with the actions, which they said was against the Japanese culure and traditions.

Early next week, the net will be set up, and it measures 66 feet (20 meters) across and 8 feet (2.5 meters) high.

Fujikawaguchiko, situated to the north of Mount Fuji and approximately 62 miles (100 kilometres) west of Tokyo, has been struggling with an unusual influx of ill-mannered visitors, adding to the larger issue of growing overtourism in Japan.

Since the country reopened post-pandemic in late 2022, tourism has increased exponentially, with March 2024 marking a record-breaking month, welcoming over three million foreign tourists.

Mount Fuji, a symbol of Japan and a UNESCO World Heritage site, is a tourist magnet and draws a significant portion of these visitors, who more than often dump their trash on the trails, polluting the area.

“Overtourism – and all the subsequent consequences like rubbish, rising CO2 emissions and reckless hikers – is the biggest problem facing Mount Fuji,” Masatake Izumi, a Yamanashi prefectural government official, told CNN Travel.

The mountain called Fuji-san in Japanese, which has a height of 3,776 meters (12,388 feet), has been given the nickname "trash mountain" by some of the nearby residents.