Kumamoto has seen record numbers of visitors, particularly with recent improvements to Yatsushiro Port facilitating cruise ship arrivals. This article mentions that Yatsushirogu, the main shrine in the city, had resorted to restricting entry to non-Japanese at certain times, a policy the city opposes, but has recently tried to work out measures to accommodate both worshipers and tourists.
While the article focuses on raucous behavior of visitors, my take is it’s mainly a result of cruise-ship tourism rather than culture. Unleashing a few thousand tourists at once under a strict time limit is not a good idea, as even many cities in the US have found (and their customers are fellow Americans). Perhaps efforts can be made to split numbers and better coordinate movement. Yatsushiro is discussed under the “NO-FOREIGNERS POLICY SPREADING” subsection. - William
