Popular Tourist Spot in Japan Reacts to Overtourism By Closing Specific Areas

Another worldwide city has drawn a battle line against what it perceives to be mass tourism.

This time, it’s Kyoto, Japan.

The city has closed off some side streets, including a popular geisha district, as it joins the fight that European cities started last summer including Barcelona. Some cities have tried everything from shutting off popular side streets to reason lodging taxes.

Tourism is a big draw in Kyoto. This is a city that attracts tens of millions of visitors each year.

Gion, the famed geisha district in Kyoto, has even imposed restrictions on tourists entering certain alleys. Isokazu Ota, an executive member of the Gion district council, said that tourists have not been allowed to enter specified streets from April 2024.

"We don't want to do this, but we're desperate," Ota said.

It is said that bad behavior led to this point. Find, in some cases up to 10,000 yen, were not helpful.

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