Shirakawa-go in Gifu prefecture is famous for Gassho-style houses. - Supplied
TOKYO: The village of Shirakawa in Gifu prefecture received more than two million visitors in 2024, half of whom were overseas tourists.
The village is home to Shirakawa-go, a Unesco World Heritage site that features 114 houses made in the gassho-zukuri style of steeply pitched thatched roofs.
Italian tourist Gioia Corvagia, 30, was impressed with the scenery. She said she felt as if she were in a different world from her home country when she visited with her husband Marco, 37, in December.
About 500 people live in Shirakawa-go. Souvenir shops, restaurants and other businesses generate revenue and provide jobs, and the locals coexist with tourists. However, with the recent surge in tourism, there are concerns about this coexistence being strained.
According to Shirakawa’s local government, more than two million tourists visited the area in 2024. Foreign visitors totalled about 1.11 million, accounting for more than half of the total for the first time. That number was also more than 400 per cent higher than in 2014.
About 30 days a year, Shirakawa’s one-lane main road is clogged with traffic, making it hard for residents to get through.
In winter, incidents have included tourists having a snowball fight in front of the front door of a resident’s house and a snowman being made without asking permission. Such behaviour has impacted residents. Discarded socks and gloves have been found in fields after the snow has melted.
In a survey conducted in fiscal 2024 by the local government, 59.4 per cent of residents said their impression of overseas visitors was “not very good” or “not good”.
In 2023, the town began promoting the concept of responsible tourism, asking visitors to follow five key etiquette guidelines, including using designated carparks.
A reservation system is set to be introduced next fiscal year that will limit the number of tour buses and tourists.
However, even if this works, accepting visitors during peak times, such as the autumn foliage and winter snowy seasons, is a heavy burden on residents.
“We’re nearly reaching our limit,” said Hiroaki Nishimura, 59, who chairs the Shirakawa-go Tourist Association.
Visitors to Japan soared after the Covid-19 pandemic, totalling 39.06 million nationwide from January to November 2025. That is up 650 per cent from 2003, when the central government began promoting Japan as a tourist destination.
Relaxed visa requirements and a weak yen have made it easier for foreigners to travel to Japan, and to travel around once they arrive.
However, due to the surge in tourists, Shirakawa-go and other popular destinations in remote areas are facing the downsides of overtourism, which means residents are suffering the effects of overcrowding and poor manners.
Another tourist hot spot is the Nikobuchi plunge pool, located upstream along the Niyodo River, which runs through Kochi prefecture. The pool, at the base of a waterfall deep in the mountains, is called Niyodo Blue because of how its surface glows blue in sunlight.
Chen Jiayou, 53, visited the spot from Singapore with his family in early December. He was mesmerised by the shimmering surface of the waters and said it was far more beautiful than what he had seen in photos or videos.
Only a few thousand tourists visited the pool in 2010, but after it was featured on a TV programme in 2012, it went viral on social media.
Many social media posts can still be found that recommend the place, with one overseas visitor saying that Niyodo Blue is a long way away, but a must-see.
In 2023, the spot saw a surge in tourists, who numbered about 300,000 in total. Around 20 per cent of these visitors were foreigners, according to a source.
A convenience store in Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi prefecture, whose roof Mount Fuji appears to sit on, also saw a flood of foreign tourists after drawing attention on social media. But people took photos on the nearby road, which prompted Fujikawaguchiko’s municipal government to install barriers along the road.
“In what we may call the era of social media, it’s become impossible to tell when or where social media will ignite overtourism,” said senior researcher Akiko Kosaka at the Japan Research Institute. - The Japan News/ANN
