Spite and Mount Fuji – The Weird Side of the Internet

Spite and Mount Fuji – The Weird Side of the Internet – by Liam Sweeny.

The world runs on tourism. People go to iconic places just to be there, for the bragging rights and one-upmanship, and no horizon expansion would be complete without a full complement of photos.

But the flow of cash that rolls in to a town from tourists isn’t the only flow that runs in. Garbage in the form of litter flows in, as well as traffic, and annoying encounters with people who feel they own the land of which they don’t know the lay.

But so it goes; it’s a trade-off. And the money is good. Everywhere, it seems, except the small Japanese town of Fujikawaguchiko, where the residents have simply had enough. With a middle finger as high as Mount Fuji just off in the distance, the town has erected a giant black barrier, blocking the view of the best place to snap a pic of the world-famous peak.

It’s always amused me when people organize themselves to produce construction the sole purpose of which is spite. This, the walls that get built purely to keep a neighbor from enjoying the view of their sculpted lawns. Tops was a story I heard of a man that built a house on a six- or seven foot strip of land just to block the house of a hated foe.

But it all comes at a cost. Fujikawaguchiko will lose revenue, and that barricade will likely get graffiti with as little care as the town has for the tourists themselves. But poetic justice would be if the barricade itself became a tourist attraction.

Besides, I doubt it will cover the entire view of Mount Fuji.

More from Liam Sweeny…