After traveling to Tokyo for meetings, Yoshiki Kojima's IT company employees crash out in a capsule hotel, as a tourism boom makes regular rooms too pricey for business trips.
A weak yen is attracting more visitors than ever to Japan, with national tourism figures for 2024, released Wednesday, expected to top 2019's record of nearly 32 million.
But that is also raising prices for Kojima's staff and other Japanese business travelers.
Capsule hotels, a Japanese institution, offer claustrophobic bed-sized pods, often double-stacked in rows.
They have a "shabby" reputation, Kojima said, so he found a more comfortable establishment that boasts high-end mattresses and a TV in each capsule.
"It's clean, convenient and has a traditional shared bath house. My employees say it's fun," he told AFP.
A night in a standard capsule there starts at 5,000 yen -- but its rates are rising, according to Kojima.
It is still cheaper than a basic private room at a business hotel, which in the Japanese capital cost 20,048 yen on average in November.
That's up from the pre-pandemic peak of 12,926 yen ($80 at today's rates) in April 2019, shows research by Tokyo Hotel Kai, a group of around 200 hotels.
"I'm happy there are so many visitors to Japan, but I'm agonizing every day about finding a flexible way" to run the business, said Kojima, who needs to bring around 20 to 30 employees to the capital for company-wide meetings.
The Japanese economy benefits from the surge in foreign tourists because it creates jobs and the visitors spend money, analyst Takuto Yasuda of NLI Research Institute said.
"But it has a negative impact as well, such as Japanese people not being able to travel, or their daily lives being affected by overtourism," he told AFP.
Japan's chronic labor shortages and an increase in hotel supply costs are also pushing up the fees, he added.
Keisuke Morimoto, who runs a kimono shop in Japan's western Nara region, was shocked when he learned a two-night stay at a Tokyo hotel would cost him 60,000 yen.
"Seriously, what do I do for the hotel for my business trip?" he wrote X.
Morimoto told AFP he is thinking of using short-term rental platform Airbnb, which has cheaper options.
Some tourist spots are fighting back against overtourism, including the ancient capital of Kyoto, where residents have complained of visitors harassing the city's famed geisha.
Now Kyoto plans to hike its accommodation taxes, including by up to 10 times for top-end hotels, the mayor said Tuesday.
Japan wants to welcome 60 million visitors a year by 2030.
This could mean even more expensive domestic business trips to Tokyo, Osaka and major cities, where demand for hotel bookings has spiked thanks to crowds of first-time visitors.
The number of foreign visitors to Tokyo has doubled since 2019, and was up 1.5 times in Osaka, government data show.
To even things out, the government wants tourists to visit lesser-known destinations, encouraging them to stay at least two nights in rural towns.
Yasuda agrees that funneling visitors elsewhere is key to easing pressure on city hotels.
The occupancy rate in 2024 for business hotels in Tokyo run by major operator Fujita Kanko was 88 percent, and average rates were up 26 percent from last year, the company said.
"Currently, demand is concentrated in major cities such as Tokyo and Osaka, so we are hoping that this will spread to Sapporo, Naha and other smaller regions," the firm said.
IT company boss Kojima may resort to drastic measures.
"I'm thinking of moving our headquarters to Sapporo, or organizing a meeting in a hot spring town near Tokyo," he said. "There are many areas that aren't flooded with tourists, and we can take advantage of that."
© 2025 AFP
44 Comments
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Newgirlintown
And continues to turn Japanese people against foreigners as the Japanese media creates a modern folk devil.
Pukey2
I remember the days when an oridnary business hotel could cost nearly the same price.
Last year, I stayed in a Tokyo hotel with friends who had come from abroad and paid for my room so that we would be together. The price doubled on the weekends! These hotels are laughing all the way to the bank.
diagonalslip
I always stay at the same business hotel in Shinjuku..... they keep the same tariff year-round, with Fridays and Saturdays only slightly dearer than weeknights. prices haven't changed in the years I've been going there and I pay not very much more than the 'starting' capsule price mentioned in this article. stayed at other hotels too during Covid, but of course, as soon as that was over, almost all hotels doubled or tripled their prices.....
Asiaman7
A hot spring town?
Kojima begins by telling us that business hotel prices have become so high that his company’s employees must now stay at cheap ¥5,000 capsule hotels.
And he concludes by saying he might even resort to “organizing a meeting in a hot spring town near Tokyo”?
Accommodations at a hot spring town are going to be far greater than ¥5,000, even if that hot spring town is near Tokyo.
John-San
Well foreigner are the modern folk devil. The white tourist yokai with their strange clothing, The female nakedness with their skin tight revealing form fitting outfits, the man wearing silly looking tight denim shorts. Their alien speech and alien patent of speech, The tourist yokai opposition to conformity. Their demanding mannerisms or non manners, rudeness to be blunt to the everyday Japanese worker who is getting exposed to a totally different world where getting a decent night sleep in a comfortable hotel has diminished due to the tourist yokai who has plenty of money to throw around. This is what in the minds of the everyday salaryman. The Tokyo Tourist boss seems to be targeting the tourist potential of the Shizuoka Izu Peninsular eastern coast line without actual say it. It has a kind of pop culture feel to it. The surfy easy going relaxed attitude of the area would be of akin to Cal tourist yokai.
Pukey2
Some people are down-voting everyone here simply because we have one or two legitimate complaints.
P_C
France, Spain, Italy and Turkey all have had over 60 million visitors for decades with little negative outpour ;-
You can do it Thomas the Train Japan
Geeter Mckluskie
Nothing wrong with capsule hotels. I stay in them often, they're comfortable, clean and cheap.
Also, there are capsule hotels that are half of what is claimed to be the "starting rate" of ¥5000 a night.
And this guy is mewling about ¥5000 a night?!!
JeffLee
I predicted at the outset that promoting international tourism would create more negatives than positives. Pushing an industry that that pays rock-bottom prices in an economy with a severe labor shortage is madness. I think it's more about vanity than economics. Well, we're all paying the price now.
divinda
Being that Tokyo is a major int'l city, when priced in dollars and compared to what's available in comparative places like NY or London or Dubai or Paris, those Tokyo hotel rates are pretty cheap.
Geeter Mckluskie
Pushing the severe labour shortage narrative is naive. There are 125 million people in Japan. There is no shortage of labour...only a short-changing in terms of remuneration.
Abe234
Why not have two prices. One for tourists and one for residents in Japan. Just show your license or my number or health card to get the residents price.
i know some countries that do that. The local popu get to enjoy their country without feeling being ripped off and the tourists pay the extra.
Japan often has two prices for men and women to go to certain places, so it’s doable.
sakurasuki
Govt think that all traveler are the same, while in reality there is business traveler, domestic traveler, tourist traveler and international traveler.
kurisupisu
.
In the 21st century meetings can be held internationally without even leaving the office.
The businesses in the article need to upgrade their tech.
WeiWei
That’s the inflation for you. Narrative pushed for 30+ years that it is a good thing.
Don’t forget, normal people ALWAYS lose in an inflationary situation.
Japan’s best years were the ”lost decades” when inflation was 0. It’s only gone worse since then.
yildiray
My wife works for a major hotel chain in Tokyo and the bit this article seems to have missed is that they can’t open all their rooms like they used to. Weak yen means foreign staff are really hard to bring over, so hotels are closing up to 30% of rooms on a given day. This means prices have to be raised to cover the lost opportunity, and the demand makes that possible.
Bobby Franks
Interesting idea, but what would be the benefit to the hotels/accommodations?
They’re already operating at nearly full capacity, so how would lowering prices for residents benefit them?
The government could cover the balance for residents, but we don’t really want our taxes used to subsidize hotel stays, do we?
wallace
In the first half of 2024, the occupancy rate for hotels in Tokyo was almost 78%. This is slightly higher than the previous year's rate of 76%.
Geeter Mckluskie
France's land mass is 551,700 km²
MarkX
Weiwei, exactly, we kept hearing deflation is bad, people put off buying goods, the economy stagnates. Well, I think people were buying, traveling and things were humming along much better than they are now. For the poster who said that Tokyo hotel rates are cheap compared to other international cities, most of the places you mentioned, the remuneration is much higher so even the locals can still enjoy their own countries!
TokyoLiving
Rise prices only for foreign tourists..
Problem solved..
factchecker
Japanese hotels, by and large are horrible. Too small, mean with pillows and a disgusting breakfast in the morning awaits. All manageable if cheap. Now they've jacked up the prices to cash in, forget it
Geeter Mckluskie
https://adventure.com/venice-locals-squatting-against-overtourism-photography/
This regarding the false claim that overtourism in Europe has had "little negative *impact"
Blacksamurai
Please - 'fighting back against over-tourism'? J Business people can't find their usual capsule hotel accommodation in a crowded city and could have booked it beforehand or gone to an alternative especially as they are Japanese and have no language/other barriers?
I'm all for J people pushing back against rude tourists and rude foreign residents who contribute zip to the society and country but all these semi hysterical articles about tourism are sounding dumb and dumber. Reality check number 1 - the J govt is responsible for tourist numbers and wants them, go complain there. Number 2 - places like Kyoto and elsewhere in Japan that get big tourist yen had a lot of people there shaking their heads over no tourism during the Covid pandemic and saying they were losing too much money.
Reality check 3 - just ask Canadians and Australians how it is to not be able to buy or rent in their own country because their immigration/international student intakes are too high and aint keeping pace with housing. When I last visited Australia, a country I love, I was shocked by all the homeless in the cities I used to go to when they didn't have those problems. Same with Canada. I was also shocked by the big jump in foreign buyers with big money, often from the PRC, able to outpay the locals for buying and renting houses and apartments.
When Japanese people have this problem instead of a whine about hotels and tourism, I'll listen seriously.
Geeter Mckluskie
If you're rich, perhaps. In which case you can manage the "jacked up prices"
Geeter Mckluskie
The irony here is the mewling is coming from a guy in the IT sector
Lindsay
Karaoke bars are the cheapest overnight stays in Tokyo. Most are only around ¥1,000 from midnight to dawn plus meals and drinks.
didou
Oshogatsu, Golden Week and Obon mass move all over the country have never been an issue, as part of the tradition.
It took me one 7 hours to do 120km on the highway. Never moved again during that overbusy periods.
There is no overtourism but all tourists are around the same spots and that’s the problem for a small country like Japan
jib
Even with a weak yen, you get a good hit in the 1st week,
By the end of the 2nd week, you are ready to go home.
owzer
And hotels won't rent to locals. Duh.
didou
Total spending by tourists in 2024 estimated to be over 8 兆円、or more than 50 BUSD., a record.
The few complaints are not an issue for the government
Antiquesaving
And the xenophobia is in full swing.
Reminds me when I first arrived in Japan and the hotel cancelled our reservation when they found out my Japanese wife was with a gaijin telling us the policy didn't permit Japanese women with foreign men. (It was a regular hotel).
Next they will blame foreigners for the thousands of izakya bankruptcies we saw and are seeing despite the business they bring.
You mean like hiking prices and taxes which makes it more expensive for Japanese also?
We'll start by example.
15 years ago where do you thing my children's public school tip was to? That's right Kyoto and Nara, where was my wife's school trip to? Again Kyoto and Nara, my friends Jr high son's trip this year? Again Kyoto and Nara.
Seems funny that the government wants foreigners to go to different places but the Japanese all go to the same places that are complaining.
Company trips, school trips business meetings all go to the same "tourist" destinations.
Antiquesaving
It isn't tourists, it is the cost of living.
Why did my local Izakaya raise prices? Because the cost of food is up, cost of utilities are up, my cost for these are up and it has nothing to do with tourists.
I have to go to Niigata soon, if I remember an article, Niigata gets about 0.6% of the foreign tourists coming to Japan, but all the places we usually stay have increased their prices and when we asked why, the reply wasn't over tourism, it was the general costs of everything.
mu-da
That guy is working in the IT business? I cursery glance at the largest business hotel chain reveals that Toyoko Inn offers several hotels in Tokyo locations for just under ¥10,000. Seems like a really badly researched article or someone doesn't know how to use the internet.
GuruMick
Have the meetings in Laos.
Antiquesaving
I remember back during the Bubble places like Canada were complaining about Japanese tourists and that they were paying high prices and taking up all the accomodations in all the top tourist sites like Banff, Lake Louise, etc...
The reaction was to call anyone complaining "racist". Food for thought.
Geeter Mckluskie
"And the xenophobia is in full swing."
>
Antiquesaving
Read the article.
You get what you give!
Chabbawanga
there is always a bar open somewhere
Blacksamurai
And all the talk about 'funneling visitors elsewhere' will do jack if those other places especially in regional Japan where nature is the attraction don't have infratructue or staff or services/conveniences/shopping to accommodate non J tourist numbers.
Mr Takuto Yasuda needs to get out of his little bubble of a research office if he thinks 'funneling' is an appropriate way to talk about tourists who don't want to go to places that are not up to hosting them. Paris is a huge destination for tourists and always has been but the French Govt or people in research institutes or tourism organisations are not angsting about that and talking about ways to get them to go elsewhere in France.
Japanese people and foreign residents known of great places to go all over Japan because we live here. You can't tell foreign visitors who don't to go off to the regions and support places like the Tohoku region for example that simply aint got the youthful population to be flexible enough to offer tourist services especially in different languages. Nor the infrastructure and shopping areas that tourists like. Saying tourists can go to a ryokan doesn't magically transform the people running it into people capable of hosting and making comfortable international visitors.
And when you've got places all over Japan like Tottori that have breathtaking nature but depressing and shabby old shopping areas, with many shops shuttered, it's not encouraging for international visitors to hang around there. The Japanese people mentioned in this article seem to live on Planet We Used To Be.
wallace
I am happy to live in a location that does not see many tourists.
Hiro
The solution isn't difficult: build more hotels. If you can really sell out small rooms in a business hotel for Y20k a night, there's a profit to be made.
kohakuebisu
and
How dare you challenge the thrust of this article with FACTS! I want some outrage to go with my cornflakes.
We stayed in Kanto twice last year, once just past Disneyland and the other time (Toyoko) near Saitama Stadium. Not Tokyo but both by big nearby attractions. Both times were 20,000 yen for a four beds with parking. The mystery then is how they make any money.
grc
Newgirlintown - superb comment