Arashiyama Crowds: Kyoto Commenters Blame the Cars, Not the Tourists — “Ban Everything but Residents and Buses”
嵐山の大混雑、地元が責めるのは観光客ではなく「車」——住民とバス以外は進入禁止にせよの大合唱
By Rakutaro · Tokyo, Japan
A 2024 news clip of Arashiyama's main street — pedestrians squeezing past illegally stopped cars, a driver snapping “shut up” at the reporter — drew 2,212 comments, and Kyoto commenters aim their anger somewhere specific: not at visitors. The most-liked fix (666 likes) is blunt: ban every vehicle except residents' cars and buses, seconded at 626 and 417 likes. A resident says badly behaved taxis are the biggest jam-maker; another puts the blame squarely on the city, which fails to regulate traffic and posts no police at the crush. The line that stings most: “a city that's been raising the same problem for decades and never solves it” (310 likes). For a visitor the consensus doubles as practical advice: treat Arashiyama as a place you arrive at by train and walk.
These comments are from a video published in 2024. Prices, rules and crowds may have moved since; anything we checked ourselves is marked with a source.
“Why not just ban all vehicles except residents' cars and buses?”
住民の車•バスを除いて、車両進入禁止にすれば良いのでは？
FAQ
- How crowded is Arashiyama?
- Crowded enough that this news footage shows pedestrians threading between cars stopped in a no-parking zone on the main street. Japanese commenters treat it as chronic, not seasonal — the sharpest line (310 likes) calls Kyoto “a city that's been raising the same problem for decades and never solves it.”
- Do Kyoto locals blame tourists for Arashiyama's congestion?
- No — the anger in this 2,212-comment thread is at cars and the city. The three most-liked proposals (666, 626 and 417 likes) all say the same thing: ban everything but residents' vehicles and buses. A local adds that taxi drivers' manners are the worst offenders (92), and one comment says it outright: this is Kyoto City failing to regulate traffic, not a tourist problem (25).
- Should I drive or take a taxi to Arashiyama?
- The consensus points the other way: they want cars — including taxis — out of the main street entirely, because vehicles are what make it dangerous and slow. The practical read for a visitor, as of these comments: arrive by train, do Arashiyama on foot, and watch for cars squeezing through the crowd.
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What Japanese people said — picked from the top 60 of 2,212 comments
Just close the street to everything but authorized vehicles. Done.
指定車以外、通行禁止でええやん。
Banning all non-resident cars and taxis is really the only fix, isn't it?
住民以外の一般車とタクシーの侵入禁止にするしか無いんじゃないかな？
I'm a local. For starters, the taxi drivers' manners are terrible — I want taxis banned from coming in. Passengers getting in and out, cabs idling for fares… they're what causes the jams.
地元です。 取り敢えず、タクシードライバーのマナーが悪いんで、タクシーの乗り入れ禁止して欲しいです。客の乗り降りと、客待ちで渋滞の原因になってるし。
If the taxi driver who spat out those insults isn't an independent, the company employing him should be giving its staff some proper training.
暴言吐いたタクシー運転手をが個人じゃないのなら、雇ってる会社は社員に対して、然るべき教育の実施を行うべきですね
The ones yelling “shut up” — show their faces in close-up!! And if it's a taxi, show the company name too.
うるせーとか言ってるのは顔出しでアップにして下さい！！ タクシーの場合は社名も゙出して欲しい。
This is less about the tourists and more about Kyoto City not putting traffic controls in place to manage the crush. In crowds like this, having no police officers directing traffic is downright dangerous.
これは観光客がというより、混雑を回避するための交通規制をしていない京都市の問題。 この混雑状況で警察官の交通整理すらないって危険すぎる。
Seriously, what are the Kyoto police doing? These are traffic violations happening in plain sight — an officer could just stroll down the street with a stack of tickets.
というより京都府警は何をやってるのよ？こんなん道交法違反の現行犯で検挙できるんだから、赤と青の切符の束を持って 散歩すれば良いだけだろうよ。
A city that's been raising the same problem for decades and never manages to solve it.
何十年も同じ問題提起してて解決できない都市
It's been like this forever… They spent years working to bring in overseas tourists, so this just means the local government is incompetent, plain and simple.
ずっとこんなんやん……何年も前から海外から観光客が来るように動いてたんだから単に自治体が無能ですってことやん