Due to recent issues caused by tourism, there will be no Cherry Blossom Festival this year at Arakurayama Sengen Park. Japan’s cherry blossom festival is believed to draw more than 2 lakh people every year. Fujiyoshida City, located just west of Tokyo next to Mt. Fuji, is widely used for cherry blossom viewing, and many love to visit this location! But this year the city officials have decided to call off this popular festival.
According to the mayor of Fujiyoshida, Shigeru Horiuchi, the cancellation was essential for safeguarding the residents of Fujiyoshida. He cited that Mount Fuji is very well known around the world for its landscape. However, residents of nearby cities face numerous hardships that stem from the heavy influx of tourists to the area.
City officials indicated that there have been many incidents where tourists have opened private residences without prior consent from the homeowner to use restrooms, entered onto private property, littered, and defecated on private property. In at least some cases, tourists have become aggressive towards homeowners when they prevented the tourists from doing so.
According to city officials, children had been pushed aside when walking to and from school by visitors blocking access to narrow sidewalks during periods of heavy traffic. They described this as an impending crisis threatening children's dignity and disrupting their community. Therefore, due to these conditions, the city chose to cancel this year's tenth annual cherry blossom festival at this location in Japan.
Arakurayama Sengen Park will not be affected by the cancellation of the Japan’s Cherry Blossom Festival. The park is expected to be busy with visitors during April as long as there are views of and access to the area around Mount Fuji. The cherry blossom season (Hanami) is one of the busiest times of the year for travel to Japan. There has been a cherry blossom festival that takes place in Japan for over 10 years, known for its postcard-like imagery of Mount Fuji surrounded by cherry blossoms.
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