The village of Shirakawa has long been a worldwide tourist attraction. It’s gotten even busier as Japan prepares to welcome 40 million tourists in 2025. In response, the tiny village says it’ll greatly increase parking fees starting in October.
Shirakawa-go is a cluster of traditional gassho-zukuri (thatched and angle-roofed) housed in the village of Shirakawa. With people flooding in to see this World Heritage site, the village sees 1,000 times more tourists than residents yearly. Rather than shy away from it, though, the village has embraced tourism as a way to share knowledge of its history and culture.
However, that’s meant it’s had to scramble to control the waves of visitors who come through. The village has created several tools to help travelers self-manage their trip, such as a website in multiple languages detailing current traffic conditions.
Despite this, the village has still found it difficult to manage the crush of tourists, both foreign and domestic, with traffic jams being common. The busiest times are during the country’s Golden Week (next coming up at the end of April) and the fall months of October and November.
In response, according to TV Asahi News, Shirakawa says it’ll dramatically raise the rates in parking lots. Starting in October, the three village parking lots closest to Shirakawa-go will raise their rates for cars from 1,000 yen (USD $6.70) to 2,000 yen ($13.50). Tour buses will pay even more, with parking rates going from a measly 3,000 yen ($20) to 10,000 yen ($67).
The new rates likely won’t deter anyone who earns a currency other than yen. However, it’ll definitely raise funds that Shirakawa can use to hire more staff to manage congestion or create additional parking locations.
Shirakawa isn’t the only location to raise rates to address overtourism. Both Yamanashi and Shizuoka Prefectures have instituted fees for hiking Mt. Fuji. Himeji Castle in Hyogo Prefecture has weighed instituting a significant price hike but only for foreign travelers, establishing a two-tier pricing system to keep rates low for residents.
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