A record-high 17.78 million foreign tourists came to Japan in the first half of this year, surpassing the previous record of 16.63 million in 2019.
Japan has been straining under the weight of overtourism these past months. The surge of foreign visitors, some of whom are not exactly the pleasant kind, has resulted in several places putting restrictions in place, such as Kyoto banning tourists from private roads in Gion, the geisha district. and imposing fines on unruly tourists.
More recently, Fujikawaguchiko officials installed a huge barrier at a popular photo spot to block views of Mount Fuji. A week later, however, badly behaving tourists were at it again, poking holes into the mesh in futile attempts to take photos of the revered mountain, as per reports by wire agencies.
In another, more nationwide response to overtourism, businesses in Japan are considering a dual pricing system for foreign tourists and locals amid a surge in inbound visitors thanks largely to the continued weakness of the yen, as per a report on The Yomiuri Shimbun. Some establishments, in fact, have already started charging foreigners more.
In Tokyo’s Shibuya ward, for example, a buffet-style seafood and barbecue restaurant called Tamatebako has price points of ¥7,678 for lunch on weekdays for foreign tourists and ¥8,778 for dinner (including tax). Japanese nationals and foreign residents, however, are entitled to a ¥1,100 discount.
The Hokkaido Tourism Organization, meanwhile, has called on businesses in Japan’s northernmost prefecture to set lower prices for locals and is pushing for a trial run for two-tier discounts this autumn. It cited the head of one Hokkaido hotel operator as saying discounts are needed to ensure Japanese people don’t leave internationally popular resorts such as Niseko.
In June, the mayor of Himeji in Japan’s Kansai region said he was considering more than quadrupling entrance fees for foreign tourists at Himeji Castle, a UNESCO heritage site, and is widely considered the most beautiful of its kind in Japan.
The current fee for adults is ¥1,000 yen (P380) but Mayor Hideyasu Kiyomoto said he is thinking of setting it about $30 (P1753) for foreign tourists and $5 (P292) for residents. He explained that the fee hike is for securing funds for the castle’s operations and maintenance costs, such as the crucial cost of fostering workers who will inherit the skills of making and laying the castle’s special kawara roof tiles and shikkui plaster.
He also cited possible damage to the castle’s keep from too many visitors. The castle had 1.48 million visitors in the 2023 financial year, of which 452,300 were from overseas. “Setting prices only for foreigners is a global standard,” he added, asking for understanding about his proposal.
Those who support the plan echo the mayor’s sentiments, saying that two-tier price systems are also common in other countries. Admission to the Taj Mahal in India, for instance, is about $14 for foreigners, more than 20-fold higher than for Indian nationals, while the admission fee to the Louvre Museum in France is about $25 (free for those under 18), but free for European Union residents ages 18 to 25.
Even in Japan itself, aside from student and senior discounts, two-tier schemes with discounts for locals “have long existed” at facilities like hot springs baths or onsen supported by municipalities.
Critics, however, are saying that it may seem like a scam to foreign visitors and put them off. Experts, meanwhile, advised business operators to clarify to their customers why the different prices are set for only foreigners.
“The fall of the yen’s value and insufficient pay hikes have made gaps in purchasing power between inbound foreign tourists and Japanese customers wider. Thus, introducing two-tier prices is a natural consequence,” said Prof. Masafumi Tsukamoto of Daito Bunka University, an expert of tourism policy studies, as quoted in The Yomiuri Shimbun. “But the system does not fit non-profit tourist facilities run by local governments, thus local governments are required to state clear reasons why foreign nationals are subjected to two-tier pricing.”
Mitsuo Fujiyama, a research fellow at the Japan Research Institute who is an expert on tourism economy, meanwhile explained that as the government aims to lure 60 million foreign tourists in 2030, tourism facilities will shoulder more costs to make signs in foreign languages and secure guides in the future, among other expenses. “Local communities need to broadly discuss how to cover these costs. If clear reasons for fee hikes — and what the revenues will be spent on — can be explained to foreign tourists who visit the facilities, a certain degree of price hiking can be an option,” he added.
A record-high 17.78 million foreign tourists came to Japan in the first half of this year, with arrivals in June led by travelers from South Korea, China, Taiwan, and the US, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO). The figure surpasses the previous record of 16.63 million in 2019. The Philippines ranked second in Southeast Asia in terms of foreign tourist arrivals in the Land of the Rising Sun at 401,700, surpassed only by Thailand (618,300).
Tourism has gained such a strong momentum that spending by foreign visitors has quintupled over the past decade and is now Japan’s second-largest “export” category after cars, according to Nikkei Asia.
