Tourism often transforms beautiful cities into thriving economic hubs, boosting their global fame and foreign exchange reserves. However, for Kyoto, Japan's cultural heart, the surge in tourist numbers has brought unexpected challenges. The overwhelming influx of visitors has sparked criticism, with one social media user even dubbing the city the "Seventh Ring of Hell."
Around 35 million tourists had visited the dynamic nation of Japan by the end of 2024. But if you are planning to visit the cherry blossoms, cutting-edge technology, and high-speed trains of Japan, then it may be a little more packed than you might anticipate.
A recent video uploaded by @yoohoo.gogo has revealed the overcrowding situation in the famous Sannenzaka street in Kyoto's Higashiyama area.
Watch the video here:
The video shows local officials trying to manage foot traffic on the cobblestone street that leads to the city's well-known Kiyomizu-dera Temple. The area is crowded with hundreds of people who are having difficulty moving through it.
Concerns about crowding have been raised by the footage, with residents noting that "overtourism has ruined Japan" and that they are "waiting on tourist regulations."
'Unpopular opinion: Kyoto is the seventh ring of hell right now,' wrote Johnny Waldman, the owner of the Japanese art blog Spoon & Tamago, when he shared the video on X.
With the growing influx of tourists in Japan, implementing regulations to manage their numbers has become a pressing need. A city's beauty can only be preserved if the situation doesn't escalate into an overwhelming surge of human activity.
