Photo/Illutration The Chureito five-story pagoda stands at Arakurayama Sengen Koen park against the backdrop of a snow-capped Mount Fuji in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi Prefecture. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

FUJIYOSHIDA, Yamanashi Prefecture--Visitors to a popular viewing spot for Mount Fuji could face being slapped with an entrance fee as city officials tackle issues related to overtourism.

Foreign tourists are flocking to Arakurayama Sengen Koen park, whose viewing deck offers picture-perfect views of Japan’s highest peak with the Chureito five-story pagoda in the foreground, especially during cherry-blossom season.

In fiscal 2023, about 1.3 million people visited the park, 2.4 times as many as the pre-pandemic 540,000 in fiscal 2019, according to the city of Fujiyoshida.

Officials complained that toilets in the park are frequently clogged because users don’t observe the rules on what can be flushed, and plastic drinks bottles are strewn here and there.

As a result, city officials are mulling plans to collect an entrance fee to the park to curb the influx of visitors while they step up cleaning and garbage disposal efforts.

“The fee could be in the form of voluntary ‘cooperation money,’ rather than mandatory,” said a senior city official. “In any case, this is something we want to consider.”

The city has also received complaints that the 398 flights of steps leading to the viewing deck are sometimes so crowded that elderly people and those with physical disabilities have difficulties making it to the platform.

City officials are considering installing an elevator, an escalator or another means to ease the congestion.

“Our priority is coexistence between tourists and residents,” said Noboru Kobayashi, who heads the city’s economy and environment department. “But we don’t want to put a burden on residents.”

At another popular viewing spot for Mount Fuji, the city government opened a pay parking lot at a cost of 180 million yen ($1.14 million) on June 1 to mitigate traffic congestion.

The Honcho-dori road in central Fujiyoshida, part of National Route 139, teems with tourists eager to snap pictures of retro-looking shops that line both sides of the road against the backdrop of 3,776-meter-high Mount Fuji.

But the road has only one lane each way. Vans carrying group tourists frequently stop along nearby alleys, blocking vehicular traffic.

Stores along Honcho-dori have complained that many tourists drop by to use their restrooms without buying anything.

City officials expect vans for group tourists to use the new parking lot, which is also equipped with a restroom.

In May, the neighboring town of Fuji-Kawaguchiko installed a barrier to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji that appears to be sitting on the roof of a Lawson convenience store following complaints about littering and other issues.

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