Name: Mount Fuji.
Age: Formed 100,000 years ago.
Appearance: A blank rectangular expanse.
It’s actually pointy, like a volcano. Not from this angle.
What are you talking about? I’ve seen Mount Fuji. No, you haven’t. And if anybody asks, neither have I.
But you can’t miss it! It’s 3,776 metres tall – Japan’s highest peak – and a landmark. Well, you certainly can’t see from here.
Where is here, exactly? Fujikawaguchiko in Yamanashi prefecture, a small town nestled in the foothills of … oh, never mind.
I’m guessing you probably can see it from there? Nope. And specifically not from the pavement across the road from a Lawson convenience store.
That is quite specific. I’ll grant you that once upon a time, the view of the snow-covered peak rising behind the humble convenience store may have been considered very Instagrammable.
But not now? Residents got fed up with tourists crowding the pavement, parking illegally and littering.
That’s the price you pay for being photogenic, I guess. Visitors were also straying into the busy road, oblivious. The town has finally decided to take action.
What are they gonna do? Pull down the mountain? They did the next best thing.
They built a 3,776 metre addition on top of the store? No, they put up a black mesh screen, 2.5 metres high and 20 metres wide, to spoil the view.
That seems a bit churlish. It’s not the first thing the town tried. Signs were put up and security guards stationed to prevent accidents. But nothing else worked.
Will this work? It’s early days. For the moment, the tourists seem quite intrigued by the view of the mesh screen.
Stupid tourists. Their numbers have certainly become a challenge. In a continuing post-pandemic boom, monthly visitors to Japan topped 3million for the first time in March and April.
That does sound a lot. Japan had sought to break the pre-pandemic record of 31.9 million visitors annually by 2025, but it now looks as if that could happen this year.
How will they cope? A £10 charge to climb Mount Fuji is one measure being introduced to relieve congestion.
Along with the screening off of picturesque car parks. Apparently there are other, as yet unspoiled, convenience store/mountain juxtapositions in Fujikawaguchiko.
Ooh, where? No one will tell.
Do say: “Honestly, I’m just here to buy intriguing Japanese snacks.”
Don’t say: “Hey, local motorist! I’ll give you 10,000 yen if you let me take a picture from the roof of your car.”
