Akira Tanimoto says his apartment narrowly survived the floods and mudslide at his residential complex over the weekend, and even if he wants to go back there with his wife and two pet birds, he can't because there is no water, power or food available.
After their desperate run from floods that had hit the apartment complex where about a dozen of his neighbors were found dead, he returned to his place Monday to check on his apartment, which was almost intact. He also had to bring with him his beloved birds, which he initially had to leave behind.
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Akira Tanimoto says his apartment narrowly survived the floods and mudslide at his residential complex over the weekend, and even if he wants to go back there with his wife and two pet birds, he can't because there is no water, power or food available.
"I can't go back if I wanted to," the 66-year-old retired Self-Defense serviceman said, holding a bird cage, in which the birds chirped as he spoke. "Electricity is out, water is cut off and there is no information there."
More than 50 people were unaccounted for as of Tuesday evening, many in the hardest-hit Hiroshima area. At Tanimoto's apartment complex, about a dozen victims have been found. He and his wife grabbed the minimum necessities and walked about 1.5 kilometers (1 mile) to a fire engine Sunday after the floods and mudslides hit the complex. Debris and mudslides had stopped right outside the couple's apartment door.
Tanimoto thinks he and his wife are the lucky ones. "Some of our neighbors had their apartments destroyed, others are still looking for their families. So we are lucky. Our parakeets even survived," he said.
Residents sheltering at the Yano school were provided with water, blankets and cellphone chargers. But a local volunteer, Yuki Sato, 25, said local convenience stores were obviously in short supply, so she didn't buy anything there because she wanted to save them for the evacuees or others who can't drive out of town.
"No water, food, nothing gets here," Ichiro Tanabe, a 73-year-old resident in the neighboring port city of Kure, told the Mainichi newspaper. "We are going to be all dried up if we continue to be isolated."
In another hard-hit town, Ozu in Ehime prefecture, water supplies were entirely cut off and residents could not clean their mud-stained homes, or even their clothes. At a major supermarket in town, employees sold bottled water and tea, cups of noodles and other preserved foods that survived the floods, while employees cleaned damaged merchandise, throwing items into dozens of plastic bags.
Suga said the government set up a task force and was spending 2 billion yen ($18 million) to hasten deliveries of supplies and other support for evacuation centers and residents in the region.
Tanimoto wants to go back there with his wife, Chieko, and their yellow and green parakeets, Pi-chan and Kyako-chan, but said it would take a few weeks until they get the utility services back and clean the place.
A man walks past debris from a heavy rain in Hiroshima, southwestern Japan Tuesday, July 10, 2018. Rescuers combed through mud-covered hillsides and near riverbanks Tuesday to look for dozens of people still missing after days of heavy rains caused flooding and mudslides in southwestern Japan. (Ryosuke Ozawa/Kyodo News via AP)
"I can't go back if I wanted to," the 66-year-old retired Self-Defense serviceman said, holding a bird cage, in which the birds chirped as he spoke. "Electricity is out, water is cut off and there is no information there."
Rescuers were combing through mud-covered hillsides and along riverbanks Tuesday searching for dozens of people missing after heavy rains unleashed flooding and mudslides in southwestern Japan, where the death toll has exceeded 150.
Rescuers use a drone during a search operation for missing person in Hiroshima, southwestern Japan Tuesday, July 10, 2018. Rescuers combed through mud-covered hillsides and near riverbanks Tuesday to look for dozens of people still missing after days of heavy rains caused flooding and mudslides in southwestern Japan./Kyodo News via AP)
More than 50 people were unaccounted for as of Tuesday evening, many in the hardest-hit Hiroshima area. At Tanimoto's apartment complex, about a dozen victims have been found. He and his wife grabbed the minimum necessities and walked about 1.5 kilometers (1 mile) to a fire engine Sunday after the floods and mudslides hit the complex. Debris and mudslides had stopped right outside the couple's apartment door.
Rescuers search for missing people at a mudslide site following days of heavy rain in Kumano town, Hiroshima prefecture, southwestern Japan, Tuesday, July 10, 2018. Rescuers were combing through mud-covered hillsides and along riverbanks Tuesday searching for dozens of people missing after heavy rains unleashed flooding and mudslides in southwestern Japan. (Kota Endo/Kyodo News via AP)
Tanimoto thinks he and his wife are the lucky ones. "Some of our neighbors had their apartments destroyed, others are still looking for their families. So we are lucky. Our parakeets even survived," he said.
Work under the scorching sun was hampered by mud and heat, and shipments of relief goods were delayed by damaged roads and transportation systems, especially in areas isolated by the disaster.
Japan's Self Defense Force members search for missing people in the mud following days of heavy rain in Hiroshima city, Hiroshima prefecture, southwestern Japan, Tuesday, July 10, 2018. Rescuers were combing through mud-covered hillsides and along riverbanks Tuesday searching for dozens of people missing after heavy rains unleashed flooding and mudslides in southwestern Japan. (Ryosuke Ozawa/Kyodo News via AP)
Residents sheltering at the Yano school were provided with water, blankets and cellphone chargers. But a local volunteer, Yuki Sato, 25, said local convenience stores were obviously in short supply, so she didn't buy anything there because she wanted to save them for the evacuees or others who can't drive out of town.
Water and other relief supplies were scarce in some of the other disaster-hit areas.
People throw a chair from a broken window frame as they clean up a house after days of heavy rain in Kurashiki, Okayama prefecture, southwestern Japan, Tuesday, July 10, 2018. Rescuers were combing through mud-covered hillsides and along riverbanks Tuesday searching for dozens of people missing after heavy rains unleashed flooding and mudslides in southwestern Japan. (Takaki Yajima/Kyodo News via AP)
"No water, food, nothing gets here," Ichiro Tanabe, a 73-year-old resident in the neighboring port city of Kure, told the Mainichi newspaper. "We are going to be all dried up if we continue to be isolated."
Delivery companies Sagawa Express Co. and Yamato Transport Co. and cargo service Japan Freight Railway Co. said some of their shipments to and from the flooded areas have been suspended or reduced. Regional supermarket chains such as Every Co. said one outlet is closed and several other outlets shortened service hours due to delivery delays and supply shortage.
Thousands of homes were still without clean water and electricity in Hiroshima and other hard-hit areas. Residents lined up for water under the scorching sun as temperatures rose to 35 Celsius (95 Fahrenheit), raising risks of heat stroke.
Cars are trapped in mud as residents clean up after days of heavy rain hit southwestern Japan, in Hiroshima city, southwestern Japan, Tuesday, July 10, 2018. Rescuers were combing through mud-covered hillsides and along riverbanks Tuesday searching for dozens of people missing after heavy rains unleashed flooding and mudslides in southwestern Japan. (Ryosuke Ozawa/Kyodo News via AP)
In another hard-hit town, Ozu in Ehime prefecture, water supplies were entirely cut off and residents could not clean their mud-stained homes, or even their clothes. At a major supermarket in town, employees sold bottled water and tea, cups of noodles and other preserved foods that survived the floods, while employees cleaned damaged merchandise, throwing items into dozens of plastic bags.
The landslides and flooding across much of western Japan have killed at least 155 people, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference.
Some of the thousands of residents who had been evacuated, some rescued from their rooftops, began cleaning up after the rain stopped Monday.
Akira Tanimoto, right, with his wife Chieko Tanimoto watch a bird cage in which his yellow and green parakeets chirped at an elementary school-turned evacuation center in Hiroshima, southwestern Japan, Tuesday, July 10, 2018. Tanimoto says he is the lucky one to have survived and evacuate with his wife from an apartment complex hit by floodwater and mudslide, where some of his neighbors lost their lives or got their homes damaged, after heavy rains unleashed flooding and mudslides in southwestern Japan. (AP Photo/Haruka Nuga)
Suga said the government set up a task force and was spending 2 billion yen ($18 million) to hasten deliveries of supplies and other support for evacuation centers and residents in the region.
Earlier Tuesday, the Self-Defense Force ferried seven oil trucks from Hiroshima to Kure, a manufacturing city whose 226,000 residents were cut off from the rest of the prefecture due to the disaster.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who had canceled a planned trip to Europe and the Middle East this week to oversee the emergency response, will visit disaster-hit areas in the Okayama prefecture, Suga said. The government mobilized 75,000 troops and emergency workers and nearly 80 helicopters for the search and rescue effort, Suga said.
Assessment of the casualties was slowed by the scale of the area affected. Officials in Ehime prefecture asked the government to review its weather warning system, noting that rain warnings were issued after damage and casualties already had occurred. The Japan Meteorological Agency said as much as 10 centimeters (3 inches) of rain per hour fell on large parts of southwestern Japan.
Rescuers remove the debris to clear an area hit by a mudslide caused by heavy rains in Hiroshima, southwestern Japan, Tuesday, July 10, 2018. Rescuers were combing through mud-covered hillsides and along riverbanks Tuesday searching for dozens of people missing after heavy rains unleashed flooding and mudslides in southwestern Japan. (AP Photo/Haruka Nuga)
FUJIKAWAGUCHIKO, Japan (AP) — The town of Fujikawaguchiko has had enough of tourists.
Known for a number of scenic photo spots that offer a near-perfect shot of Japan’s iconic Mount Fuji, the town on Tuesday began constructing a large black screen on a stretch of a sidewalk to block the view of the mountain. The reason: misbehaving foreign tourists.
“Kawaguchiko is a town built on tourism, and I welcome many visitors, and the town welcomes them too, but there are many things about their manners that are worrying,” said Michie Motomochi, owner of a cafe serving Japanese sweets “ohagi,” near the soon-to-be-blocked photo spot.
Motomochi mentioned littering, crossing the road with busy traffic, ignoring traffic lights, trespassing into private properties. She isn't unhappy though — 80% of her customers are foreign visitors whose numbers have surged after a pandemic hiatus that kept Japan closed for about two years.
Her neighborhood suddenly became a popular spot about two years ago, apparently after a photo taken in a particular angle showing Mount Fuji in the background, as if sitting atop a local convenience store, became a social media sensation known as “Mt. Fuji Lawson,” town officials say.
The mostly foreign tourists have since crowded the small area, triggering a wave of concerns and complaints from residents about visitors blocking the narrow sidewalk, taking photos on the busy road or walking into neighbors’ properties, officials said.
In Europe, concerns over tourists overcrowding historic cities led Venice last week to launch a pilot program to charge day-trippers a 5-euro ($5.35) entry fee. Authorities hope it will discourage visitors from arriving on peak days and make the city more livable for its dwindling residents.
Fujikawaguchiko has tried other methods: signs urging visitors not to run into the road and to use the designated crosswalk in English, Chinese, Thai and Korean, and even hiring a security guard as crowd control. None worked.
The black mesh net, when completed in mid-May, will be 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) high and 20 meters (65.6 feet) long, and will almost completely block the view of Mount Fuji, officials said.
Dozens of tourists gathered Tuesday taking photos even though Mount Fuji was not in sight due to cloudy weather.
Anthony Hok, from France, thought the screen was an overreaction. “Too big solution for subject not as big, even if tourists are making trouble. Doesn't look right to me," he said. The 26-year-old suggested setting up road barriers for safety instead of blocking views for pictures.
But Helen Pull, a 34-year-old visitor from the U.K., was sympathetic to the local concern. While traveling in Japan in the past few weeks, she has seen tourism “really ramped up here in Japan from what we've seen."
“I can see why people who live and work here might want to do something about that," she said, noting many were taking pictures even when the mountain was not in the view. "That's the power of the social media.”
Foreign visitors have flocked to Japan since the pandemic border restrictions were lifted, in part due to the weaker yen.
Last year, Japan had more than 25 million visitors, and the number this year is expected to surpass nearly 32 million, a record from 2019, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization. And the government wants more tourists.
While the booming tourism has helped the industry, it has triggered complaints from residents in popular tourist destinations, such as Kyoto and Kamakura. In Kyoto, a famous geisha district recently decided to close some private-property alleys.
Locals are uncertain about what to do.
Motomochi said she cannot imagine how the black screen can help control the flow of people on the narrow pedestrian walk and the road next to it.
Yoshihiko Ogawa, who runs a more than half-century-old rice shop in the Fujikawaguchiko area, said the overcrowding worsened in the past few months, with tourists gathering from around 4-5 a.m. and talking loudly. He sometimes struggles to get his car in and out of garage.
“We’ve never thought we'd face a situation like this,” Ogawa said, adding he is unsure what the solution might be. “I suppose we all just need to get use to it.”
Yamaguchi reported from Tokyo.
FILE- Mount Fuji is viewed clearly through the cool winter air Friday, Jan. 29, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)
FILE- Visitors take pictures of Mount Fuji from Shibuya Sky observation deck Monday, Jan. 20, 2020, in the Shibuya district of Tokyo. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
Workers set up a barricade near the Lawson convenience store, where the popular photo spot framing a picturesque view of Mount Fuji in the background Tuesday, April 30, 2024, at Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, central Japan. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Workers set up a barricade near the Lawson convenience store, where the popular photo spot framing a picturesque view of Mount Fuji in the background Tuesday, April 30, 2024, at Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, central Japan. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Tourists take pictures in front of the Lawson convenience store, a popular photo spot framing a picturesque view of Mount Fuji in the background on cloudy evening of Tuesday, April 30, 2024, at Fujikawaguchiko town, Yamanashi Prefecture, central Japan. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Workers set up a barricade near the Lawson convenience store Tuesday, April 30, 2024, at Fujikawaguchiko town, Yamanashi Prefecture, central Japan. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A notice for tourists across the use road from the Lawson convenience store, where a popular photo spot framing a picturesque view of Mount Fuji in the background Tuesday, April 30, 2024, at Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, central Japan. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A tourist takes a selfie at the Lawson convenience store, a popular photo spot framing a picturesque view of Mt. Fuji in the background, on cloudy evening of Tuesday, April 30, 2024, at Fujikawaguchiko town, Yamanashi Prefecture, central Japan. The town of Fujikawaguchiko, known for a number of popular photo spots for Japan's trademark of Mt. Fuji, on Tuesday began to set up a huge black screen on a stretch of sidewalk to block view of the mountain in a neighborhood hit by a latest case of overtourism in Japan. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A security guard redirects a tourist outside of the construction site of a barricade near the Lawson convenience store Tuesday, April 30, 2024, at Fujikawaguchiko town, Yamanashi Prefecture, central Japan. The town of Fujikawaguchiko, known for a number of popular photo spots for Japan's trademark of Mt. Fuji, on Tuesday began to set up a huge black screen on a stretch of sidewalk to block view of the mountain in a neighborhood hit by a latest case of overtourism in Japan. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Tourists hang out outside the Lawson convenience store, a popular photo spot framing a picturesque view of Mt. Fuji in the background on cloudy evening of Tuesday, April 30, 2024, at Fujikawaguchiko town, Yamanashi Prefecture, central Japan. The town of Fujikawaguchiko, known for a number of popular photo spots for Japan's trademark of Mt. Fuji, on Tuesday began to set up a huge black screen on a stretch of sidewalk to block view of the mountain in a neighborhood hit by a latest case of overtourism in Japan. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Tourists gather in front of the Lawson convenience store, a popular photo spot framing a picturesque view of Mt. Fuji in the background on cloudy evening of Tuesday, April 30, 2024, at Fujikawaguchiko town, Yamanashi Prefecture, central Japan. The town of Fujikawaguchiko, known for a number of popular photo spots for Japan's trademark of Mt. Fuji, on Tuesday began to set up a huge black screen on a stretch of sidewalk to block view of the mountain in a neighborhood hit by a latest case of overtourism in Japan. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Tourists are packed at a train and bus station Tuesday, April 30, 2024, at Fujikawaguchiko town, Yamanashi Prefecture, central Japan. The town of Fujikawaguchiko, known for a number of popular photo spots for Japan's trademark of Mt. Fuji, on Tuesday began to set up a huge black screen on a stretch of sidewalk to block view of the mountain in a neighborhood hit by a latest case of overtourism in Japan. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Workers set up a barricade near the Lawson convenience store, a popular photo spot framing a picturesque view of Mt. Fuji in the background Tuesday, April 30, 2024, at Fujikawaguchiko town, Yamanashi Prefecture, central Japan. The town of Fujikawaguchiko, known for a number of popular photo spots for Japan's trademark of Mt. Fuji, on Tuesday began to set up a huge black screen on a stretch of sidewalk to block view of the mountain in a neighborhood hit by a latest case of overtourism in Japan. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Tourists take a photo of the Lawson convenience store with Mt. Fuji in the background on cloudy evening of Tuesday, April 30, 2024, at Fujikawaguchiko town, Yamanashi Prefecture, central Japan. The town of Fujikawaguchiko, known for a number of popular photo spots for Japan's trademark of Mt. Fuji, on Tuesday began to set up a huge black screen on a stretch of sidewalk to block view of the mountain in a neighborhood hit by a latest case of overtourism in Japan. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Tourists take pictures in front of the Lawson convenience store, a popular photo spot framing a picturesque view of Mt. Fuji in the background on cloudy evening of Tuesday, April 30, 2024, at Fujikawaguchiko town, Yamanashi Prefecture, central Japan. The town of Fujikawaguchiko, known for a number of popular photo spots for Japan's trademark of Mt. Fuji, on Tuesday began to set up a huge black screen on a stretch of sidewalk to block view of the mountain in a neighborhood hit by a latest case of overtourism in Japan. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Workers set up a barricade near the Lawson convenience store, background, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, at Fujikawaguchiko town, Yamanashi Prefecture, central Japan. The town of Fujikawaguchiko, known for a number of popular photo spots for Japan's trademark of Mt. Fuji, on Tuesday began to set up a huge black screen on a stretch of sidewalk to block view of the mountain in a neighborhood hit by a latest case of overtourism in Japan. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Visitors take a photo in front of a convenient store at Fujikawaguchiko town, Yamanashi prefecture, Japan, with a backdrop of Mr. Fuji on April 28, 2024. The town of Fujikawaguchiko, known for a number of popular photo spots for Japan's trademark of Mt. Fuji, on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 began to set up a huge black screen on a stretch of sidewalk to block view of the mountain in a neighborhood hit by a latest case of overtourism in Japan. (Kyodo News via AP)
