For over twenty five years I have passed the Lawson convenience store in Fujikawaguchiko featured in this newspaper article. As a visual artist instructor/teacher of photography, I can understand why it would appear to be art to some photographers, but of all the times I have passed the store which has to be in the hundreds, I have yet to see a pro photographer taking a pic, its mainly kids on vacation with smart phones most likely on a tight budget, but lately we have even seen run of the mill tour companies stopping at the lawson convenience store, guiding clients here to take pics with smart phones, WoW! These same tourists have overrun Chureito Pagoda! Twenty years ago I was on assignment at the pagoda during cherry blossom season, my image was used for billboards, magazines, and tourist pamphlets, twenty years ago during golden hours there were only a handful of us locals enjoying the scenery at this sacred Buddhist Sanctuary and Cemetery. Yes, its a cemetery, that enshrines about a 1000 Veterans from Fujiyoshida who died in the Japanese conflicts from 1868 Sino-Japanese war with Russia, and the Pacific war that ended in 1945.
Today on clear days at the Pagoda you have to queue/wait in line about an hour to take a pic of the Pagoda with Mt. Fuji in the backdrop. Even in the early morning blue hour during peak cherry blossom season, and autumn leaves season countless tourists are waiting to take pics at sunrise, and sunset is much more crowded. So, I do not visit this spot anymore with group Japan photo tours, but I will with Japan private photo workshops but only if requested. Its the same with street photography in the Fujikawaguchiko and Fujiyoshida regions, I will only do street photography in the region when clients on a private Mt. Fuji photo workshop request. But there is a big difference between me, and ‘run of the mill tour companies,’ such as I am a local, and I know the best spots, timing, and Japanese manners, so not to offended other locals. Japan is one of the cleanest countries in the world, and you would be hard pressed to find any litter on the streets, and 99.9% of us locals DO NOT litter.
Thankfully, the Mt. Fuji part of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park is huge. With very limited access to most of the region, don’t get me wrong every lake has local public transportation such as buses, but they run about 5 a day or less. So about 99.5% of tourists are stuck on the beaten path, and hang around Lake Kawaguchiko, and Lake Yamanakako is getting more popular, as it has an abundance of lodging, but again with limited public transportation. And thankfully there is not plan to add extra public transportation especially after the troubles we have seen at Lawson Fujikawaguchiko, and lets be honest for a moment, if Lawson owners really cared about the tourists and garbage some tourist toss on the street, they would put a screen to block Mt. Fuji on-top of their store. But no, that might put them in a negative light, so they have made us tax payers pay for the wall that they are putting up across the street from the store. Yes, the wall is being constructed across the street, so I am almost positive the tourist problem is not over yet, Fujisan is only being partially blocked at this Lawson!
Participants on my annual group Essence of Autumn Leaves photo tour, Essence of Cherry Blossoms photo tour and Hokkaido photo workshops will not have to deal with tourist pollution, as we spend 5 days in the Mt. Fuji, Hakone region off the beaten path journeying deep into authentic Japanese scenery and culture.