The number of other people who visited Japan reached record titles in 2024, however, the main destinations of the “Gold Route”, such as Kyoto and Osaka, suffer from overcrowding. If existing trends are not durable, where do they deserve for other people? Adam withnall informs from Tokyo
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When a Chilean woman posted a video on Instagram of herself doing chin-ups on a sacred torii gate at a Japanese shrine, the backlash was almost immediate. For many in Japan this was just the latest example of tourism gone wrong – of foreign visitors with no interest in understanding the local culture using their country as a playground.
International tourism to Japan has exploded in recent years, and while the official figure for 2024 is yet to be released it is now certain to be a new record in excess of the 31.9 million who visited in 2019 before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This boom has corresponded with a rise in clashes between locals and foreigners, from monuments and shrines being defaced with graffiti to the decision to cover up views of Mount Fuji after they went too viral online. Japan has not yet seen the same anti-tourism backlash as Tenerife last summer, where protesters confronted holidaymakers on their beach towels, but there are growing concerns the situation could head in that direction if such clashes of culture are not addressed.
With popular cities such as Kyoto, Tokyo, and Osaka flooded by crowds of tourists, especially the spring cherry blossom Sakura and the golden-colored seasons of autumn, the Japanese government is now employing foreign visitors to travel to the remarkable periods, to descend from the beaten path, and respect local customs.
Even the Japanese government has been taken by surprise by the surge in foreign visits; it has smashed its target of recovering pre-pandemic tourism levels by 2025. In interviews with The Independent in Tokyo, government officials and industry leaders admitted there are concerns that current trends are not sustainable.
The Japan Tourism Agency, the government body responsible for the country’s tourism strategy, has released a new seven-point guide on “travel etiquette”, asking foreign visitors to educate themselves about local customs before traveling, “mind your manners” while in Japan and “respect cultural assets” including temples and shines.
Japan prides itself on its hospitality, and nowhere is this more evident than in the cultural practice of tea ceremonies. Very formal and loaded with meaning, the undeniable act of offering matcha green tea to a guest has acquired artistic form over the centuries, even dividing into other styles and schools of thought.
Alpha Takahashi works as a translator at the Tokyo Grand Tea Ceremony, explaining the importance of the passing of the procedure to English-speaking tourists. He is a professional actor based in Los Angeles, but returns to Japan twice a year to help his mother, a sensei tea ceremony.
Organisers tell The Independent that the event has become increasingly popular in the 15 years since its launch, taking a second place and promoting tickets in advance. Settsuko Yukawa, curator at the Tokyo Arts Council, says it’s an opportunity for foreign tourists to “feel the hospitality of the Japanese people. “
Takahashi says that in the early years of the event, foreign visitors were more commonly embassy visitors. Tourists can now be noticed waiting in long lines at the Hama-Rikyu Gardens, hoping for the release of resale ticket prices, and he says he meets visitors from all over the Global who have “planned their Japan around that. “
Like many facets of life in Japan, tea rite occasions are well-organized, structured, and orderly. But other popular tourist destinations have struggled to cope with the influx of visitors, and tourism has wreaked unwanted havoc on the lives of locals.
Kyoto commuters will have to fight for space with tourists carrying their luggage on the overcrowded bus network, and the local government installed panels this year to block views of Mount Fuji after the people of Fujikawaguchiko lost patience with the tourists who dumped their waste on the road. in a modest Lawson convenience store.
Many restaurants in Japan are small, family-owned businesses that serve a handful of tables at a time. Landlords may not speak English and are wary of catering to foreign consumers who don’t understand what they’re asking for. Online star reviews of many restaurants, including in Tokyo or Kyoto, show examples of disgruntled tourists who simply refused service at the door.
The massification in most destinations encourages tourists themselves to find quieter and more culturally enriching alternatives, especially in a second or third visit.
“We see in the news that grandmas and grandpas can’t get on the bus in Kyoto, and it’s heartbreaking,” says Takahashi. “But at the same time… I’m very grateful for people who have already come and experienced it, now taking a second trip saying, ‘Okay, let’s take a step back and experience Japan in a different way, go to places we haven’t been.”
At the Japan Tourism Agency, officials are aware that the rapid influx of visitors is proving problematic.
“Yes, we are involved in excessive tourism,” says Shota Adachi, deputy director of the Agency’s strategic plans division. If too many people come and the locals do not feel good, they feel uncomfortable, that is not sustainable.
He says the government is formally still committed to a target of welcoming 60 million annual foreign tourists by 2030, but that this will only be viable if they can be spread out – both geographically across the country, and throughout the year including the off-peak season.
“What we want to do is not trying to restrict the numbers, [the message is not] ‘don’t come to Japan anymore’,” he says. “It’s about trying to spread the demand.
“The important thing for Japan is to try to spread tourists to local areas, other than places like Tokyo or Kyoto, [or] Osaka. There are also many other nice places… attracting more tourists to those areas is something that will benefit not just the cities, but also those rural places.”
Akan, Hokkaido “exercise more tour guides, a position for adventure trekking”
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Kusatsu and Ikaho are Onsen towns available from Tokyo as opportunities for the most notable Hakone. Those willing to spend extra visit Beppu Onsen and Dopass Onsen in ōita and Ehime, respectively.
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Isa, Kagoshima Tourists can experience farming and cooking local produce in Japan’s rice-bowl
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Iya Valley, Tokushima Thatched farmhouses, hot springs and the historic vine bridge in one of Japan’s most remote mountainous regions
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Shirakawa-gō is a small historic town about an hour from Kanazawa
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An important part of the solution, he says, is to better educate foreign visitors on how they are expected to behave in Japan – hence the new etiquette guide. The guide could soon be displayed in some form on planes heading to Japan, perhaps alongside the more familiar safety videos at the start of flights. “It’s something we may well be working on,” Adachi says.
Another option under discussion is to charge foreigners more for stopping in the highest popular sanctuaries, villas and peoples. These taxes are through local authorities, and some have to increase tax rates on accommodation or use of ONSEN, hot springs houses. However, those are policy rates and do not apply to other races for foreigners.
The mayor of Himeji, whose castle is one of the most iconic in the country, sparked a national debate by suggesting a higher entry fee for foreign visitors – arguing that the proceeds would help pay for local services and spread the financial benefits of tourism more equitably.
Ryo Nishikawa, associate professor at Rikkyo University’s college of tourism, is wary of initiatives to charge foreign tourists more, or to issue them with strict instructions upon arrival in the country. Both risk damaging Japan’s welcoming reputation, he suggests.
Instead, he believes that Japan exploits the concept of Machizukuri – literally the “making of the neighborhood” – the concept that local populations protect their own heritage and way of life. If more tourists can be diverted from big cities to see more of Japan as a whole, he says, it will provide a more original and less congested experience while also helping to sustain rural communities.
“In rural areas, the population is decreasing,” he says. “We want to use tourism to revitalize those areas . . . Use the benefits of tourism to maintain cultural heritage and [at the same time] open safe cultural homes for tourists. “
Thinking outside the box is, by definition, a more complicated prospect for those contemplating booking their own trip to Japan: first-time visitors in particular are much more likely to follow the so-called “Golden Route” from Tokyo to Mount Fuji, Kyoto and ending in Osaka.
This is where a professional can provide added value, says Kuniharu Ebina, president of the Japan Association of Travel Agents.
He points to figures that show just how tightly concentrated foreign tourists are in a very small number of places, and compare that to Japanese domestic tourists who, exploring their own country, are spread out through its different regions much more evenly.
“Other Japanese people know many lovely parts of Japan that foreigners don’t know,” he says. “We can still do more as a tourism industry [to advertise this information]. We are also racing to offer new information to foreign tourists, such as incorporating local activities and food into the tours.
The reality is that the problems associated with overtourism are only likely to get worse before they get better; with the weak yen making visits more affordable, the expectation is that this year will set another record.
Professor Nishikawa is that the dramatic building in inbound tourism has an upgrade of the value of foreign flights, making foreign vacations even more dear to the Japanese themselves. It is natural, he suggests, that such a dynamic can simply turn public opinion against tourists if properly controlled.
The government corresponds to the government to exhibit the Japanese public why tourists provide a network to obtain advantages to the country, he says, and only in terms of the cash they spend.
“Japan just started globalisation in the tourism industry, while other countries started earlier and are therefore more experienced,” he says. “We should also learn from [what’s happening in] other countries.”
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