Tourism: Japan’s Double-Edged Sword

Tourism has become a priority in Japan’s economic growth strategy. The pandemic blunted that effort, but when the Kishida Cabinet lifted its restrictions on foreigners entering Japan on October 11, 2022, the foreign visitors began to flock to Japan. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism (MLIT), over twenty-five million visitors arrived by the end of 2023. This year even more tourists arrived. In June, Japan had over three million visitors, an all-time monthly record, and by mid-year, eighteen million visitors had come. The cheap yen has certainly helped.

Although the national government may be happy with the success of their policy, many who live in popular tourist destinations are less so. The numbers are overwhelming the local infrastructure and not all these guests from abroad have behaved respectfully. Local authorities have had to take their own steps to curb tourism’s disruptions.

“Kyoto is not a theme park.”

Kyoto is one of Japan’s tourist highlights. The nightlife district of Gion is particularly attractive because, for over three hundred years, it has been the center of the geisha culture. Yet, tourists do not always respect the privacy of the geisha or maintain the distance required for their establishments. Incidents of individual harassment, including cases where their kimono have been ripped and vandalized, as well as clusters of tourists clamoring for photo opportunities, have led to complaints about the impact that tourism is having on business in Gion.

A ban on photographing geisha on private roads (shidou) that access tea houses and their okiya or living quarters was imposed in 2019. In April this year, the Gion district’s local council went further. Access to those areas was declared off-limits, with signage in English and Japanese, and violators were to be fined 10,000 yen (roughly $70). Alongside the fine, the Gion’s local council went on the official Kyoto Sightseeing website to admonish tourists: Kyoto is not a theme park.

Gion’s approach is to deter tourists from upsetting the longstanding traditions of the geisha community. The fines are not legally binding, but media reports suggest that deterrence may be working. Preserving Gion culture is just as important to Kyoto as welcoming foreign visitors.

Social Media Hotspot

An altogether different problem has beset a small resort town in Yamanashi prefecture, west of Tokyo. Fujikawaguchiko is very close to Mt Fuji and is adjacent to Lake Kawaguchi, which has a population of twenty-seven thousand people.

According to residents, tourism grew suddenly in the fall of 2022 after a selfie taken in front of a Lawson convenience store with the iconic Mt. Fuji behind it. It went viral on social media. From that point, tourists began to gather there for their own selfies, blocking traffic and distressing residents.

On May 21, 2024, the mayor of Fujikawaguchiko, Watanabe Hideyuki, decided to act. The town raised black netting to block the view. At the same time, the town put out signs in English, warning tourists not to run out into the roadway. Watanabe hoped that this would ensure the privacy of both tourists and residents, but in fact, within a week, the tourists outfoxed him. The town’s netting now had holes, once more allowing an unobstructed view of Mt. Fuji.

Social media elevated this small town into a national hotspot, but that does not mean that Fujikawaguchiko does not want foreign visitors. In fact, the mayor is hoping to raise revenue through a new lodging tax to renovate and improve infrastructure to make the town an even more attractive destination. It is proposed that by 2026, visitors will be paying an additional 100 to 200 yen per night to help the town manage its increased popularity.

Osaka’s Price of Admission

The governor of Osaka, Yoshimura Hirofumi, wants to impose a fee on foreign tourists. According to MLIT, in 2023, Osaka prefecture ranked second out of forty-seven prefectures with over eighteen million foreign visitors, a 4.6 percent increase from the pre-COVID era. In May 2024 alone, Osaka attracted 2.1 million foreign visitors. The governor floated this idea on March 6, 2024, during a press conference, but he has not yet explained how he would implement it. Osaka visitors already pay a tax on their lodgings—100 to 300 yen on room fees of 7,000 yen or more per night, and Yoshimura suggested adding a similar amount for foreigners coming to Osaka.

Yoshimura’s idea is novel, but it has problems. First, would the Osaka Prefecture only ask foreigners to pay an entry fee? It already imposes an accommodation tax on Osaka lodgings, but it does not discriminate between Japanese and foreign visitors. Furthermore, the Ministry of Finance’s National Tax Agency collects an international tourist tax of 1000 yen from all who leave Japan, regardless of nationality. How would Osaka collect from only foreign visitors? And, more importantly, would that be legal?

Second, Osaka will host the World Expo in 2025. The World Expo 2025, which is organized by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), is expected to welcome over twenty-eight million visitors from around the world. Yoshimura wants the entry fee to be in place before the expo. However, Dimitri Kerkentzes, the director-general of the BIE, met Yoshimura on April 10 to ask him to postpone this fee as it would make visitors feel unwelcome.

Yoshimura then appointed an expert panel, including academics and business leaders, to consider how to implement this tourist tax. The tourism tax used in Bali, Indonesia, was Yoshimura’s reference, in which, foreigners pay 150,000 rupiahs (roughly $9.50) to enter the island of Bali. According to Sankei Shimbun, some on the expert panel were not enthusiastic about the governor’s proposal. Since it had never been done in Japan before, it seemed impractical to implement a tax on foreign visitors only. But also, there were concerns that this entry tax could violate tax treaties and even to be deemed as “unequal or discriminatory” treatment of foreigners under Japan’s constitution. The governor has yet to make his decision.

Tourism has been integral to Japan’s economic growth, and the Japanese people are welcoming to foreign visitors. Yet some communities are feeling the brunt of Japan’s enormous success in attracting visitors from abroad. Each locality grapples with the challenge of finding the  correct balance between promoting tourism and preserving their community’s way of life. At times, local governments must find creative ways to manage the fallout of Japan’s increasing popularity.