Photo/Illutration A foreign tourist stretches to take a photo of Mount Fuji on May 24 in Fuji-Kawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture. (Yusui Munekata)

FUJI-KAWAGUCHIKO, Yamanashi Prefecture--Foreign visitor numbers have dropped off since a huge black sheet was erected May 21 on a sidewalk here following complaints about the behavior of tourists taking selfies with Mount Fuji in the background.

Residents had complained about tourists blocking the sidewalk, leaving litter and stepping onto the road itself and disrupting traffic to get better snaps of Mount Fuji, which rises majestically over the roof of a Lawson convenience store.

The black plastic sheet, although an eyesore, now blocks off that view.

On May 24, Mayor Hideyuki Watanabe, giving his first news conference since the sheet went up, said discussions would be held with the Yamanashi prefectural government and police about the situation at another Lawson convenience store that has emerged as a new hotspot for Mount Fuji photos. The store fronts a prefectural road, so any measure would involve coordination with prefectural authorities.

But Watanabe said he had no plans to erect another large black sheet in front of the second Lawson store.

He also said the town government planned to install a QR code on the sheet for tourists looking for other locations in the town where good views of Mount Fuji are available.

Officials said the town government had received around 50 emails and 200 phone calls regarding the move, with views both for and against the proposal being expressed, since the end of April when the decision was made to put up the first black sheet.

Watanabe said he wanted to remove the sheet as soon as possible, although town officials had said it would remain in place until there was a noticeable improvement in the behavior of foreign tourists.

Watanabe admitted it was a tough decision to make due to fears the number of foreign tourists to his town might decrease. But he said he approved the plan from the standpoint of securing the safety of residents and tourists.

Town government officials suggested the sheet be erected because other attempts aimed at making  foreign tourists more aware of their surroundings so as not to annoy residents had failed.

Discussions began from late March about what color to use for the plastic sheet. The general concern was that black left a negative image, but it was also the only color that would shut out any view of the mountain.

The sacred peak was still clearly visible in smartphone photos when sheets using other colors, such as gray and green, were tried.

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