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Kicker: Obstructing the view

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WORLD Radio - Kicker: Obstructing the view

A town near Japan’s Mount Fuji installs screens to deter tourists from impeding traffic


Visitors taking a photo with Mt. Fuji in the background Associated Press/Photo by Kyodo News

NICK EICHER, HOST: There’s a tourist town in Japan called Fujikawaguchiko where people come to see Mount Fuji.

But there may be more to it. In this location, in front of Fujisan, there’s an American-style convenience store called Lawson. It looks like anything you’d see in the U.S., and maybe that’s the draw: the juxtaposition of something iconically American in the foreground of something majestically Japanese.

Social media tourists have flocked to the little town to do it all for the ’gram.

Even when it’s foggy.

TOURIST: I noticed today that Mt. Fuji’s not even in the view, and people are still taking pictures, so that’s the power of social media I think.

The power to set people wandering into the streets with no regard for anything but their phone cameras. They block traffic, they litter, they trespass.

And for Fujikawaguchikoians enough is enough. So by mid-month, a black mesh net is going up 8 feet high, 66 feet long. Take your Insta somewhere else.

It’s The World and Everything in It.


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