With its calm water and lush foliage, Okutama, a town in the mountains of western Tokyo, should be a picture of bliss. But its scenic riverside is in danger of being ruined by irresponsible litterbugs as it becomes increasingly popular as a barbecue spot and camping ground.

To deter visitors from leaving their rubbish behind by the Tama River, the municipal government has started using drones equipped with loudspeakers to blast warnings, reported Japan’s news outlet The Mainichi.

The announcement, repeated in Japanese and English, said: “Take your garbage home with you. Leaving it behind is punishable by law as illegal dumping.”

There are also discussions on whether to ban riverside barbecues altogether.

The Mainichi reported that the drones flew by the Tama River near Okutama’s town hall on May 2 during the Golden Week - a week that saw tourism surge in Japan with four public holidays, including Children’s Day.

About a dozen groups, including some foreign tourists, were seen barbecuing by the river that day.

A 21-year-old Vietnamese tourist who was visiting the area with friends told The Mainichi that the location has become well-known on social media as a free barbecue spot in a picturesque ravine that is just a 10-minute walk from JR Okutama Station.

The tourist said she was not aware of the rubbish issue, adding that her group will take their rubbish with them.

According to The Mainichi, the drones were deployed at least once before, during the Obon holiday in August that commemorates ancestors.

Plans are afoot to deploy them during the summer holiday period as well.

The Mainichi said the number of barbecue-goers increased rapidly in 2020, as restrictions on movement were put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic.

There were instances when the town, with a population of about 4,500, saw more than 300 visitors daily and a roughly 9,000 sq m riverside area was almost fully occupied, it added.

The amount of rubbish left behind also increased, with griddles, grills, empty cans and food scraps among the items tossed away, The Mainichi reported, adding that it could take two 2-tonne trucks to remove all the rubbish on Mondays.

The Tama Municipal Government is discussing with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government about banning barbecues by the river.

The Mainichi quoted Deputy Mayor Eiichi Inoue as saying: “Garbage is a serious problem. However, as a town with a tourism-based policy, we do not want to see a decline in tourists due to the bad publicity caused by the ban. A response is tricky.”

The issue of rubbish from riverside barbecues is not unique to Okutama.

In the Tokyo suburb of Komae, further down on the Tama River, a ban on barbecues at the river’s edge was enacted in 2011.

Along the banks of the Iruma River in the city of Hanno, Saitama prefecture, the number of visitors having barbecues also increased during the pandemic.

The Mainichi reported that nearly 100 emergency calls to police were made each day during the Golden Week holidays in 2021. The area was closed for two months from August 2021 and barbecues were banned.

In 2022, the city began to charge fees for garbage removal at barbecue spots.