A gorgeous town in Japan believed to have inspired a famous film has been grappling with overtourism and introduced a cap on visitors.
Ginzan Onsen is an area in the country’s Yamagata region that sees around 330,000 visitors every year.
Its name translates to “silver mine hot spring” and people from all over the world are drawn in by its picturesque scenery and historic buildings.
The 300-year-old hot spring town is believed to have inspired the setting for Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning animation, Spirited Away.
The town, with its traditional inns and Edo-period wooden ryokan shopfronts, has been recently experiencing issues with overcrowding, altercations at popular photo spots, and verbal abuse towards locals.
The congestion has even forced emergency services to abandon ambulances and respond to incidents on foot.
In response to these challenges, the Ginzan Onsen association has decided to implement strict rules. From January 7 until the end of March, the number of day visitors will be limited during peak times.
While there will be no restrictions from 9am to 4pm, those without advance reservations will need to leave by 5pm. Between 5 and 8pm, only 100 daytime visitors with pre-purchased tickets will be allowed into the town.
From February, parking regulations will also be enforced. Day visitors will only be able to park in a designated area 2km away from the hot springs and will need to take a shuttle bus, costing 1,150 or £5.87, to reach their destination.
Takayuki Saito, head of commerce and tourism for the municipality of Obanazawa, told AFP that “traffic jams have sometimes been caused by cars getting stuck in the snow, because travellers were driving with normal tyres” instead of snow tyres.
The town added on its website: “Many guests became angry over good spots for the purpose of taking pictures, leading to traffic rules being broken, cheating, and making people seek better places and easier ways than others.”
These measures follow a record-breaking year for tourism in Japan. In 2024, the country welcomed an astonishing 33.38 million visitors between January and November, surpassing the previous high of 31.88 million in 2019.
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