KOFU, Japan: The enormous number of coins apparently thrown by tourists into the Oshino Hakkai spring ponds – part of the Mount Fuji Unesco World Cultural Heritage Site in Oshino, Yamanashi Prefecture – has raised concerns over water quality.
The site was designated in 2013 as a Unesco World Heritage site.
Since then, an increasing number of tourists have been apparently tossing coins into the ponds, mistakenly believing that it brings good luck.
With about 50,000 coins recovered to date, the practice is significantly marring the beauty of the ponds, which are renowned for their exceptional clarity.
On March 24, foreign tour groups at Oshino Hakkai were observed curiously peering into the water and snapping photos of the vast accumulation of coins.
After looking at a sign prohibiting the throwing of coins, a 44-year-old tourist from the United States expressed surprise and wondered aloud if the pond was man-made because of the sheer volume of coins.
The visitor added that while tossing coins into fountains or artificial ponds is a common wish-making tradition in the United States, it was regrettable to see such a practice in a natural setting.
Oshino Hakkai refers to eight spring ponds believed to be fed by underground water from Mt Fuji.
On clear days, the ponds offer stunning views of the sacred mountain, attracting millions of domestic and international tourists to the site each year.
The village of Oshino noted that coins began to be spotted in the ponds after Mt Fuji was designated a World Cultural Heritage site in 2013.
The village attributes this largely to inbound tourists, as the recovered coins include foreign currencies from Western and Asian countries.
The tossing in of coins has been confirmed in several of the eight ponds, and the damage is most evident at Wakuike Pond, where the water flow is strongest.
Wakuike Pond is known for its remarkable clarity, which allows visitors to see the bottom four metres down. However, the pond floor now glitters with silver and copper from countless coins.
Many of the coins have reportedly begun to corrode, sparking fears that they could harm the quality of the water
The Trevi Fountain in Rome is famous for its tradition of visitors tossing coins into the water. According to legend, doing so will make their wishes come true.
Village officials suspect tourists are mimicking such customs, but a village official lamented that Oshino Hakkai has no such tradition.
In 2016, the village conducted five recovery operations in Wakuike Pond, using volunteer divers to address the damaged scenery, the first such effort of its kind. More than 18,000 coins were collected in total.
A warning sign in Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean was set up later urging visitors not to throw in coins, but the practice persisted. About 50,000 coins have been recovered over the past 10 years.
“It’s an endless cycle — as soon as we pick them up, more are thrown in,” the official said, describing the situation as a game of cat and mouse.
The ponds are designated as national natural monuments, and throwing coins into them could violate the Cultural Properties Protection Law.
However, efforts to raise awareness have struggled to take root because international tourists are believed to be behind most of the incidents.
After concluding in March that eradicating coin tossing would be nearly impossible, the village decided to set up an offertory box around the pond by the end of this fiscal year.
This box will serve as an alternative location for visitors to deposit money.
The initiative seeks to repurpose the coins that have marred the landscape into “cooperation funds” dedicated to preserving the local environment.
The village is seeking crowdfunding through the furusato nozei tax donation system on two portal sites until around summer to secure funding for installing the boxes and maintaining water quality.
Although water quality tests have shown no abnormalities in the ponds or nearby rivers, the village emphasised the importance of curbing the practice.
The official expressed a desire to minimise coin tossing to preserve the crystal-clear water and landscape for future generations, and hopes that this initiative will encourage greater environmental awareness. - The Japan News/ANN
