Kamakura City Looking to Add More Guards to Famous Slam Dunk Anime Train Crossing to Curb Overtourism
You’d think tourism booming after pandemic restrictions would be positive but for Kamakura City in Kanagawa, it’s causing more issues than it may be worth. Japanese news outlet FNN reported on January 8 that the city is looking to hire more security guards to patrol the famous crossing featured in Slam Dunk due to the amount of domestic and international tourists not respecting local laws and wandering into the street to snap a picture.
Kamakura City has already posted guards to the famous street with signs that said in English, Chinese and Japanese “please do not leave the roadway,” cautioning people to not walk out onto the street to take photos.
Despite this, FNN is said to have witnessed multiple people walking out onto the street as they were filming for their segment. Tourism was also seen stopping their cars near the railways crossing, causing traffic to back up on the small street. Local residents have said that they’re worried about getting run over when going outside due to the overabundance of people.
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A guard at the scene told FNN reporters that “it’s bad manners” for tourists to walk into the street to take photos but “It’s not just the roads [that they walk out onto],” implying that tourists also walk onto the track of the railway crossing.
The crossing at Kamakurakokomae Station was already famous for its view before it was featured heavily in Slam Dunk, becoming synonymous with the series. Since the release of THE FIRST SLAM DUNK anime film, which still topping the Japanese box office more than a month after release, pilgrimages to the crossing have become more frequent.
Source: FNN
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Daryl Harding is a Senior Japan Correspondent for Crunchyroll News. He also runs a YouTube channel about Japan stuff called TheDoctorDazza, tweets at @DoctorDazza, and posts photos of his travels on Instagram.
