Japan cancels famous cherry blossom festival due to ‘over-tourism’

According to Daily Sabah; Local authorities in Japan have announced that they have canceled the annual cherry blossom festival in one of the country’s most popular tourist areas due to the damaging effects of an overcrowding of tourists and deprivation of comfort for local residents. The unprecedented decision follows increasing reports of anomalous behavior by foreign travelers, including trespassing into the privacy of homes and the inability of city infrastructure to manage crowds.

The mayor of this region emphasized that the current priority is to protect the lives of citizens, and stated that the daily presence of thousands of tourists in this small city has caused serious health and security problems; So that some residents have complained about the accumulation of garbage in the roads and even tourists entering private gardens to take pictures or use the toilet. The area, which is world famous on social media for its simultaneous view of Mt.Fuji and a historic temple, hosted 200,000 visitors last year, but now local officials say the grim reality behind the beautiful images has paralyzed people’s daily lives.

The cancellation of this ten-year event is the latest action in the chain of Japan’s sharp reactions to the unprecedented wave of tourism, which has been launched due to the devaluation of the country’s national currency and the number of foreign visitors reaching the limit of 43 million people per year. Previously, in other parts of Japan, measures such as erecting high fences to block photographers’ view of natural landscapes and fines for entering historic alleys in cities such as Kyoto were implemented. Despite the official cancellation of the festival, the city administration has announced that it will deploy security forces and mobile health equipment to control travelers who are likely to still visit the area in the spring to prevent further tensions.