Visitors must pay a tax to UNESCO World Heritage Site Island

Visitors must pay a tax to UNESCO World Heritage site of Itsukushima Shrine of the western Japan island of Miyajima, starting on Sunday. Everyone over preschool age, except residents and people who work on the island, will have to pay an extra 100 yen before they board a ferry to the island.

The officials expect the fee to generate 104 million yen in tax revenues by the end of the current fiscal year. And they said about 2.93 million people visited from January through August this year. An official said the tax will be spent on maintaining toilets and ferry terminals as well as moving power cables underground.

And they also said the city recognizes the significance of collecting the tax from visitors and will utilize the revenue to protect Miyajima together with the visitors.