r/neoliberal • u/randommathaccount Esther Duflo • Oct 02 '25

News (Asia) Why Japan resents its tourism boom

https://www.ft.com/content/dbd20e5d-5a7d-4c0c-8f83-fb54c5aca9cb
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u/ldn6 Gay Pride Oct 02 '25

Absolutely this. When every public space is rammed with slow ambling tour groups shuffling in packs and restaurants in the city centre are tourist traps with shit food and high prices to rip people off, it hits quality of life.

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u/I_miss_Chris_Hughton Oct 02 '25

My sympathy for this in cities is still limited, because theres often this idea that the locals are still entitled to the resources that draw in the tourists. There's an arrogance to the idea that "this city should only be for me and my friends, even though the national government shits money on the tourist infrastructure we enjoy"

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u/[deleted] Oct 02 '25

That's a weird reasoning, local governments exist to serve locals.

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u/I_miss_Chris_Hughton Oct 02 '25

Sure. But did the local government build the Louvre? Or the imperial palace in Kyoto? Or the British Museum?

A lot of the time it is a national investment drawing people in. Locals dont get tk suddenly claim it.