TOKYO - As the flood of overseas tourists shows no sign of slowing, complaints about overcrowding and poor behaviour by visitors are prompting some in Japan to look at ways of controlling the flow without losing income, including by charging higher prices for foreigners.
Foreign tourist arrivals came to 3.04 million in May, up 9.6% from the same month in 2019 and marking the third straight month at more than three million, the Japan National Tourism Organisation said Wednesday. The weak yen has helped spur visitor numbers.
While many businesses benefit from visitors' spending in aging and shrinking Japan, the crowds have started to rile some locals annoyed about being crowded out of their favourite attractions or even being unable to squeeze on to the bus to work.
Visitors stroll at Kiyomizu-dera temple, a popular attraction among tourists, in Kyoto, western Japan on June 18, 2022. (Photo: Reuters)
In the latest sign of a growing backlash, the mayor of the western city of Himeji on Sunday said he would like to start charging foreign tourists six times more than locals to visit the city’s famed 400-year-old castle. Overseas visitors should pay around US$30 to visit the World Heritage-listed Himeji Castle, compared to about $5 for residents, the mayor said.
Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura this week expressed support for the idea and said he would like to do the same at Osaka Castle, broadcaster FNN said.
Discussion of differential pricing has surfaced as the weak yen and relatively low inflation make Japan an affordable travel option for tourists from many parts of the world. The practice has long been common in parts of Asia with lower per capita incomes — overseas visitors pay 20 times more than Indians for entry to the Taj Mahal, for example.
Overtourism has prompted clampdowns in other parts of the world — Venice introduced a new fee for day-trippers in April, while Greece is looking to cap the number of cruise ships visiting its most popular islands.
Japan's Mount Fuji is seen covered with snow from Nakai town, Kanagawa prefecture, Japan, on March 1, 2016. (Photo: Reuters)
Some Japanese communities have opted for policies that go beyond pricing strategy. In Kyoto, tourists have been banned from parts of the historic Gion geisha district, and local authorities in Fujikawaguchiko, at the base of Mount Fuji, last month erected a barrier to stop tourists from taking photos of a convenience store with the mountain in the background — a spot that had gone viral on social media.
Yamanashi prefecture, one of the two prefectures Mt Fuji straddles, has also limited the number of people allowed to climb the mountain this summer amid concern about overcrowding, trash and waste. Just 4,000 people a day will be allowed on the most popular route, with a new ¥2,000 ($13) fee imposed on each climber.
The number of foreign tourists visiting Himeji castle — which was completed in 1609 and is one of only a dozen "original castles" that have withstood war, earthquakes and fire — reached a record 400,000 last year, accounting for around 30% of total visitors.
Pedestrians cross an intersection in the Shibuya district of Tokyo, Japan, on May 2, 2024. (Photo: Bloomberg)