The town of Fujiyoshida, Japan, is canceling its cherry blossom festival in April because of the volume and behavior of the throngs of tourists.
Fujiyoshida Mayor Shigeru Horiuchi announced Tuesday that the Arakurayama Sengen Park Cherry Blossom Festival, held for 10 years, would not be held this year.
Officials said that crowds of as many as 10,000 people a day, swelled by advantageous exchange rates and social media hype, had flooded into the town, about 60 miles west of Tokyo, during past festivals.
Along with road and sidewalk traffic, “there have been incidents of people opening doors to private homes without permission to use the restroom, trespassing on property and littering cigarette butts. … There have also been confirmed cases of people defecating in private yards and making a fuss when residents pointed this out,” Fujiyoshida officials said as translated from Japanese.
The town, which is near Japan’s famous Mount Fuji, still expects an influx of people despite the cancellation. They plan to implement extra security and install temporary parking lots and portable toilets to try to deal with the tourists from April 1-17. Fujiyoshida officials will implement traffic restrictions through April 19.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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