Add Kyoto to World Cities Trying to Manage Overtourism
byRichard D’Ambrosio/
在一系列的教育运动和公开警告未能减少打断当地居民生活的游客人数之后,日本城市京都为在公共场合“骚扰”艺妓的游客处以罚款。
该市宣布了10月下旬的罚款,每次违规行为约为90美元。传单和纸灯笼被分发给外国游客,要求游客在拍摄任何自拍照或与艺ish的照片之前获得个人同意。传单还要求游客在京都的Hanamikoji Main Street之类的公共道路上接近Geishas。
Over the last few years, there have been reports of geishas and geishas-in-training being chased down streets by tourists looking for photographs with them. In some cases, geishas have claimed tourists even attempted to touch their kimonos and distinct wigs.
Tourists often visit Kyoto’s historic Gion-Shinbashi district to photograph kimono-clad geishas walking to traditional teahouses to entertain. The stone-paved alleyways and wooden buildings afford an “Instagram-ready” photo many tourists are too eager to capture, sometimes even entering private property to do so.
To help catch violators of the local ordinance, the city has also installed closed caption television cameras on public streets. In addition, police patrols have been stepped up, and private guards are being stationed at certain private premises to prevent tourists from entering.
The city has been battling the issue for years, as somewhere upwards of 7.5 million foreign tourists visit Kyoto annually, up from a few million just six or seven years ago.
Last fall, the Gion-Shinbashi district formed a “scenery preservation” committee to deal with its popularity. At that time, the group published a memorandum asking tourists to be more respectful.
In 2017, the Kyoto Convention and Visitors Bureau released an “etiquette manual,” which included, among many requests, that tourists not interfere with geishas without their permission, and avoid touching the city’s classic wood frame buildings.
To spread out tourists more, the city also has been promoting six other locations in or around Kyoto, including the Fushimi Inari Shrine.
Kyoto joins a host of international cities and regions attempting to deal with their surging popularity. For example, next year,the City of Venice will institute a tourism tax for day-trip visitors, whileRome has bannedsitting on the famed Spanish Steps.