Kyoto mayor cautious on dual pricing for foreign tourists | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

14 comments

1. Japan has no anti discrimination concept since 99.9% are Japanese 

2. > However, the mayor reiterated his support for a policy that would charge visitors from outside Kyoto higher public transportation fares than local residents. He argues that local taxpayers subsidize the city’s infrastructure.

   How about tourism specific bus lines that only stop at major attractions instead?

3. How about discounts for locals (all residents of Kyoto in this case)? Seems a more palatable way to put it out there.

4. Great way to kill your tourism industry. Sends a ‘we don’t want you here’ message that’s loud and clear. Would be a shame to see the world fall out of love with Japan

5. It will be locals one price and all you other country bumpkins pay more if they get used to it.

6. The problem is privatization of public utilities like rail and bus companies that have to still make a profit yet at the same time need to provide critical infrastructure services.

   The city or prefecture should either give more subsidies to bus companies or just completely take over the bus services if private companies are not able to be profitable but local governments tend to be very wary of doing this except in some very small towns.

   Kyoto has had issues with bus companies being maxed out due to a lack of drivers and the city needs to do something about it instead of expecting the local bus companies to come up with a solution.

7. Apparently he is talking like it would apply to everyone coming to Kyoto unless you live there. So also japanese. Good luck with that lol.

   In the end I expect it to work based on how you look, and gaijins need to show their residence card.

8. How about halting Japan’s inexorable slide backwards into developing economy status?

9. Set the high price.  

   Only displaying your own My Number card gets 50% discount.  

10. Time to show true color.

11. ‘How dare you come here and spend money, its damaging our economy’

    Don’t tourists spend a lot of money when they visit in general or am i missing something’

12. It’s a tough one for sure. It’s really challenging to find the balance between everything

13. People freaking out over higher museum fares for non-locals must have never visited Europe.

14. I was living in the inaka last year and went to a local izakaya in the same town I lived in. When I arrived, the master asked to see my zairyu card. The izakaya was full, but it was a quiet place (in the inaka!), so when he asked, basically everyone in the place turned to watch the interaction.

    Let me tell everyone who is currently getting excited at the prospect of something that is likely to turn into “you look non-Japanese, zairyu card please!”: when you live somewhere and have made every effort to integrate, getting your residency checked because you’re the wrong ethnicity feels pretty bad.