Japanese authorities have decided to cancel a famous cherry blossom festival by Mount Fuji, citing cases of violent behaviours by the visitors which have inflicted hindrances for local daily lives.

Announcement was made by the Fujiyoshida of central Japan on Tuesday concerning this year’s edition of the Arakurayama Sengen Park cherry blossom festival. The event has been celebrated for 10 years in a row and boats nearly 200,000 visitors on the height of spring.

Stating the reason for the decision, Fujiyoshida Mayor Shigeru Horiuchi emphasized rising tension within the local community. “Behind the beautiful backdrop of Mount Fuji, the calm lives of our citizens are under threat,” Mayor Horiuchi said, adding that authorities sensed a “strong sense of crisis.”

City officials said the cancellation of the cherry blossom viewing events was intended to protect the dignity of residents and the living environment. The official statement also lists some of the disruptive incidents that had been reported between tourists: entering private homes without permission to use the toilet, illegal trespassing on residential properties, littering, and some reports of defecation in private yards and much fuming by the visitors when confronted. Authorities have urged safety of public children around them. Parents have alleged to the local media that their school children could not walk on footpaths as tourists were jostling to trespass.

Being at the Fujiyoshida area particularly attracts up to 10,000 visitors per day during cherry blossom season. The rise was attributed to the devaluation of the yen and the huge number of Mount Fuji views being displayed on new social media platforms.

In response to fluxes in tourist patterns, Japan has emerged as a major issue on the overtaxed. This has even prompted intervention from the country’s Japan-friendly flight carriers to conditionally propose to collect a conservation levy from its passengers; a levy somewhat akin to an Environmental Impact Levy.