Welcome to Japan… or not? Overtourism forces Japan to consider relationship with tourists

26 comments

1. Paywall article. TL;DR?

2. Most countries love tourist dollars

   Considering getting rid of tourists instead of how to make more money off them is the most Japanese government thing ever 😂

3. Problem with Japan is that it fails to develop tourism outside of Tokyo and Kyoto.

   Make Japan more accessible for non japanese speakers and people will spread more and benefit to the economy instead of just flooding the same 10 streets and monuments

4. Most countries would kill to have high tourism.

   Japan just never knows how to capitalize on things. Instead of creating the Infra and restructuring to support higher tourists and make more money out of it, Japan’s solution is to reduce tourism.

5. Be a good tourist when you go.

6. And just 3 years ago, vendors in Kyoto were in despair because there were no tourists – little bit hypocritical, eh? Don’t get me wrong, I know that a lot of tourists are absolute morons and can’t behave, but you can’t have everything

7. I’m all for putting in some regulations or controls. I see a lot of people saying Japan should be begging for tourist dollars, etc but I don’t agree. Japans a developed nation and especially in the cities it’s crowded, most business are usually doing just fine with local customers. Packing millions of extra people per month into Tokyo and maxing out tourist destinations year round doesn’t help the average local, or improve their lives. If anything the added wear on public infrastructure just causes unnecessary issues.

   Tourist can be a good thing but Japan unlike other countries does not have infrastructure specifically designed to cope with tourists.

8. Come to Japan. Don’t be a dick. Should be common sense, but hey, the world is an interesting place.

9. They could easily have made the passes in Shikoku, Tohoku, Kyushu etc. more attractive to entice tourists but of course they also packed their prices up. Nonsensical.

10. This has nothing to do with the behaviour of tourists. Japan is just the country that fun forgot.

    Local governments canceling Halloween and new year’s is nothing. Here’s a perfect example, there is a place in Chiba which was called “chibafornia” because there is a stretch along the coast lined with California palms. My wife and I drove out to see it. But when we got there EVERY SINGLE TREE HAD BEEN COVERED IN YELLOW CAUTION TAPE. They had just put up signs telling people not to stop and there were patrol cars waiting to enforce it. This is not a busy throughway. It’s a sleepy road there is no reason to take except for the view. Anywhere else in the world people would have opened shops and sold food and t-shirts. Here anyone stips to take a photo with a palm tree and the locals complain and ban it.

    Imagine a park anywhere in the world. Now imagine it with no garbage cans, signs plastered over every surface with dozens of rules (anything from smoking to talking loudly), no parkbenches to sit on and pigeon spikes placed on any flat surface a person might be inclined to sit on. Sometimes loudspeakers come in and remind people to be polite and list the park rules. Occasionally security guards follow people around to make sure they don’t break any rules like stepping on grass or touching a tree. This is Japan.

    It has less to do with tourism and more to do with Japan not being able to handle people eating, laughing, talking, living outside of designated areas.

11. Weebs and Streamers ruining something good once again

12. I mean, there were propably loads of people whos plans to come to japan got cancled by covid.
    That + a weak yen means we have a boom right now. I would imagine it to normalize a little bit down the road.

13. Overtourism? A few years ago they were begging for tourists…

14. Oh, ok. We’ll spend our money in other countries then

15. I had some visitors recently and we decided to try the Toden Sakura Tram which runs from Waseda to Minamisenju Senju. 400 yen day pass and is being marketed to tourists. Having done it it was a weird thing to be promoted. It’s quite busy as it is and mainly old people so if you have a heart you’re not going to be sitting on the tram, but standing in a crowded and stuffy carriage. There’s no space, and tourists usually have backpacks and whatnot. Also they like chatting and you know, having fun while they’re out and about. It was just a weird thing to be pushing at tourists.

16. Bet they’d rethink the relationship if the tourist cash dried up

17. Its funny because like 5 years ago they had a goal of increasing tourists

18. Tourists are good if the volume is stable. They are bad if they suddenly go up or down. The result is local infrastructure and workforce are not being planned and in turn causing inconvenience to locals. Otherwise tourist money are great source of revenue for any country.

19. The “My Japan” syndrome is strong in here. Japan is run by a bunch of ojisans who do not know how to bring it into the 21st century. Tourism isn’t the problem.

20. I’m going in June. Should be interesting.

21. Just don’t shoo us Filipinos away pls

22. So most large capitals have no issues dealing with tourists but when it comes to Tokyo that supposedly “lives in 2050” can’t handle them? Seems more like Japan issue.

23. Strengthen the yen and most of problems iwll be solved

24. I’m going to Japan in a few weeks and articles like this keep setting my anxiety on edge. I really want to have a nice time, but it feels like reddit keeps showing me stuff like this like it’s determined to convince me I’ll be an inconvenience everywhere I go.

25. Well maybe Japan shouldn’t have advertised itself as a major touristic destination then.

    I grew up in France, which has been the biggest touristic destination for ages. Do you see the French complaining? No, because we understood a long time ago that mass tourism was good for jobs and developed it almost all over the country as a result. I grew up in the middle of nowhere, but you can be sure that you’ll find guest houses and touristic attractions there anyway. Tourists mean money.

    So instead of complaining, Japan should adapt its attractions to foreign tourists instead of just relying on local ones or just the foreigners to come and spend money. We’re not in the 80s anymore. It’s incredible that in this day and age, it’s so difficult to find foreigner-friendly stuff outside of the most popular areas in Japan.

26. Honestly I can’t believe the amount of tourists I’ve seen in Osaka recently. Every street is heaving.

    I step out of my apartment straight into big groups of tourists and I live in the middle of nowhere special.

    There are tourists EVERYWHERE.