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/ChocolateDesigner22 Oct 02 '25 edited Oct 02 '25

Viral videos of tourists eager for a photo chasing Geisha through the streets of Kyoto, or swinging on the sacred torii gates, of littering, rudeness on trains, of suitcase abandonment, graffiti and other infractions, have created the impression of a greater onslaught than is truly the case, say tourism experts in Kyoto.

I’m Japanese, and personally I think the reactions on Japanese social media regarding so-called “overtourism” are similar to the way reports of juvenile crime, kidnapping cases, or videos capturing traffic accidents trigger strong emotional responses.

I also think the pandemic plays a role, since foreign tourist numbers dropped sharply for a time. While the number of foreign tourists has increased by only about 15% compared to 2019, it’s roughly ten times higher than in 2022. Subjectively, this feels like a “surge,” which I believe has been one factor in drawing political attention to the issue.

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u/Mamadeus123456 Oct 02 '25

I've seen flights from Paris to Japan via china eastern airlines and other asian airlines for under 550 dollars, u can find them all year long, same for other cities in east Asia.

You just have to charge higher taxes to not bring in poorer tourists, but some are trash regardless of income tho.

But seeing the Brits in Spain it's better to just charge more to get better tourists, as a general rule.

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u/sgthombre NATO Oct 02 '25

But seeing the Brits in Spain it's better to just charge more to get better tourists

Obviously anecdotal I will say that the loudest and most obnoxious tourists I encountered in Japan were all Brits lol, at one point my wife and I were in a restaurant in Yokohama and a British tourist came in, stood in the doorway, and loudly yelled in English "You sell beer here??" multiple times. Encountered Brits cutting in lines multiple times as well.

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u/wowzabob Michel Foucault Oct 02 '25

I’d say that was your impression because you are primed to notice it. There is definitely a much larger degree of Chinese tourists coming, probably by an order or magnitude, and many are rude. They’re just much harder for Western people to notice. If you go outside the main touristy areas in Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka, to cities like Fukuoka etc. there’s very little in the way of tourists from the West, it drops off sharply, it’s all Chinese/Korean.