The Land of the Rising Sun, far from its isolationist days during the era of the Samurai, has become a victim of its own success. Japan, a destination that has deterred many international travelers for years due to its language barrier and remote location, managed to multiply the number of tourists it received by more than eight in 2023. This is a quantitative jump from 3 to 25 million tourists in just one year, according to data from the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO). And this tourism storm is expected to intensify in 2024: the country has already received about 12 million visitors so far this year and expects to reach 33 million by December, surpassing the record of 32 million in 2019.
The views of Mount Fuji through the mist or taking a selfie in the geisha district in Kyoto are among the most coveted attractions for tourists who will land in the country this year. The bad news for them is that if they try to take the iconic photo of the roadside mountain, they will only see a 1.8 meter fence that has been recently installed by the Ministry of Transport and Tourism to prevent the avalanche of Visitors to the mountain town of Kawaguchi collapse the road. Furthermore, if they want to climb the mountain they will have to pay a tax of 2,000 yen (11.78 euros at the current exchange rate).
The sudden rebound in tourism coincides with the strategy announced by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to reach 60 million annual visitors by 2030. Although more than half of the arrivals to Japan have been from other Asian countries, the most considerable increase It comes from travelers from Mexico, who are up 104% compared to before the pandemic, followed by those from the United States (47.3%) and Middle Eastern countries (44.6%), according to the JNTO. The influx of tourists contributed 5.3 trillion yen (31.4 billion euros) to the Japanese economy in 2023, reinforced by an attractive exchange rate between the dollar and the yen. The Japanese currency hit its lowest level since 1990 in May, at 160 yen per dollarfollowing the Bank of Japan’s historic turn in its negative interest rate policy in March.
Despite the success of the strategy to attract visitors, local prefectures, burdened by labor shortages, have begun to discover the hidden cost of mass tourism. More than half of Japanese companies say they do not have enough employees, according to a recent survey by Teikoku Databank, a credit research firm. The lack of workers has caused a historical record of business bankruptcies: 1,016 bankruptcies were registered in May. The service sector and transportation are among the most affected.
Japan, known for its omotenashi or philosophy of hospitality, has had to take measures on a national scale, from Tokyo to the most remote islands of the peninsula. In Shibuya, for example, the fashionable neighborhood in the capital, the authorities have restricted nightlife due to noise and bad behavior by some tourists and young people. The Japanese islands have also begun to feel the aftershocks of this tourism boom. The surge of foreigners to some remote islands in Okinawa Prefecture has prompted several local governments to impose an entry tax on travelers. The Island of Miyajima, off the coast of Japan, began charging 100 yen (0.59 euros) in October for foreigners who arrive by boat to visit the Itsukushima shrine. It may seem cheap, but with this measure the local government hopes to earn 250 million yen (1.4 million euros) through these fees, according to the Japanese press.
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