Japan sets monthly record with 3.31 million visitors in October

Japan's famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe, and North America, the JNTO said. 

(Looks out window.) What autumn leaf colors? The same goes for last month.

Japan's future.. A playground for wealthy Asians.

Is overtourism really a thing?

Oh no! The foreigners will eat all the rice! What will we do! I also think the headline should really read 3.31 millions visitors visited Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka! That would be more realistic.

Too ruddy many of them for my taste I’m afraid. What’s with this using a phone to shout at on speaker rather than using it as intended? This seems to be the norm for many East Asian tourists, it’s a ruddy pain you see.

Well, there are still my usual haunts that are as yet pretty empty of tourists as they seem to flock to the places they see and read about online.

(Looks out window.) What autumn leaf colors? The same goes for last month.

Well I just did an outdoor show on the weekend just outside Tokyo and the location was full of autumn colours and full of foreign tourists.

The vendors all Japanese (except me) 90% small businesses selling, local crafts and Japanese vintage and antiques were extatique at all these nice foreigners spending loads of money.

For every ¥100 the Japanese spent at my booth and that of my friend in the next booth, foreigners spend around ¥1,000 or more.

After the show the vendors all went out all agreed the last several shows, foreigners made up the bulk of their sales and all hope for more next show.

During COVID these artisans suffered greatly, many others didn't survive, and before COVID they as most artisans just made enough to survive and continue their crafts.

Now they are finally making money that not only can they continue doing their crafts but can actually live and save a bit on the side.

Personally 80% of my sales this year were to tourists from countries all over the world, Europe, Asian, North and South America, this show we even had Africa and the middle east.

All were polite, friendly and respectful.

So bring on more bring on the money, boots the economy, hotels, restaurants, souvenirs, craftspersons, etc...

Not a single Japanese vendor/craftsperson at any show this year had a single complaint about over tourism, they all were very happy to sell and get money.

Even the show promoters have understood this adding English and other languages to their websites and advertising.

Japan should break 35 million for the year. 2025 I'd expect 40 million at a minimum. Huge amount of tourists will come for the upcoming snow season. Very affordable to ski/board in Japan (in great powder) compared to most places.

I'm happy the tourists don't come our way.

I am guessing those here so opposed to tourists are well off don't rely on sales, not Japanese crafts people with a dwindling local market of Japanese, must be nice to be so rich you don't have any worries.

Well sorry, many traditional arts, crafts, restaurants etc... depend on clients and if tourists are the clients well great, that is money being brought into the Japanese economy.

You sound like the old Japanese xenophobics that didn't want any foreigners including most of us to live here permanently.

Imagine your situation today if they had gotten their way, you wouldn't be here.

A load of xenophobic hypocrites is all I can see with these constant anti tourists anti foreigner articles and comments.

I guess a return the the Edo period closure of the country would please many here.

The year-on-year gain has slowed but is still very high at about 30%.

Some of this is still recovery from Covid, as is the 20% increase in the number of Japanese going overseas. The number of Japanese going up is definitely "recovery", and not a new "boom".

its good for japanese image abroad and good for jpn economy/and for business/hospitality industry in particular/...

as wallace above have said.lucky that hordes of them not coming to our area.

Antique

Erm, I’m glad you’re doing well with your sales but that doesn’t mean for others the increased tourism isn’t detrimental in some way. Not many people commenting here rely on an income selling items at craft fairs or from a brick and mortar store.

I live in a very busy tourist area and while it benefits some businesses there are also more people who live here and don’t benefit.

Its complicated because it benefits some but not others and for me and my family it’s not a positive.

IMHO the Covid days of very low tourism were a nice respite for a lot of Japanese. Domestic travellers could do their thing and enjoy their own country without hordes of foreign barbarians cluttering up the place. You could actually hear Japanese being spoken in Kyoto!

Now, the pendulum has swing dramatically the other direction and people are not happy. The contrast to the quiet times of 3 years ago is just too much, too fast. Plus it injures the Japanese sense of pride to be a mere "tourist destination"- they would rather be respected for producing high quality goods and so on. There is gonna be a steep learning curve...

falseflagsteve

Today 10:44 am JST

I live in a very busy tourist area and while it benefits some businesses there are also more people who live here and don’t benefit.

> Its complicated because it benefits some but not others and for me and my family it’s not a positive.

Really doesn't benefit others in the area?

Lest see, more people have jobs, more sales more taxes collected, more business taxes less personal taxes need to be increased.

The myopic view of the world around,.

Because you or your friend don't benefit directly, then you can't or don't see it as a benefit for you.

Well less business for the area means less taxes, fewer jobs so even less taxes and eventually an increase in your taxes.

The money from local and Japanese tourists is just circulating money inside Japan.

The money from foreign tourists is injecting money into Japan's economy and that benefits you indirectly.

> Attilathehungry

Today 10:53 am JST

IMHO the Covid days of very low tourism were a nice respite for a lot of Japanese. Domestic travellers could do their thing and enjoy their own country without hordes of foreign barbarians cluttering up the place. You could actually hear Japanese being spoken in Kyoto!

Sorry, were you living in the same Japan as I was during COVID?

Kyoto!?

If you remember as I clearly do, Kyoto was crying, begging the government for help with tourism so low the city didn't even have money.

Oh how quickly people forget!

I would question the second word of the article

Our city, which is off the beaten path, lacks the infrastructure to support hundreds of thousands of tourists, whether domestic or foreign.

grc

Today 11:21 am JST

I would question the second word of the article

I wouldn't!

The only ones I see not welcoming are old people that have their retirement money and no longer care about the rest of the population and a bunch of foreigners that think Japan is just for them.

The restaurants and ramen shops near where the show I just did in a town outside Tokyo in northern Saitama now put up English menus, signs saying welcome, shops nearby have done the same.

The exhibitors at the show are all trying as hard as possible to learn some English, prepare explanation cards in multiple languages in order to more easily communicate with tourists.

If one wants to be cynical one could say they are less welcoming the people and more welcoming their money.

But either way they are welcoming, the reasons why are not important.

The majority of tourists head to Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. Kyoto has put in place tourist restrictions.

Some places like nearby Himeji Castle are planning on increasing the entry fee for foreigners by three times the current one.

Welcome to Japan and enjoy your stay.

Great time of the year to visit.

France had more than 100 millions of tourists in 2023. Yet you don’t hear them complaining about what is objectively rare occurrence of bad behavior.

The reaction of Japanese to mass tourism is grotesque yet again Japan has far less tourists than other countries. They should swallow their arrogance and learn a little bit of humility from those countries.

Antiquesaving

are you organizing and paying for the shipments bought by foreign buyers back to their home countries or are they doing it? Expensive these days.

« Japan's famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand »

When they refer to autumn leaves I guess it is a reference to the beautiful red maple trees leaves. If such a case why on earth would they come in October when a quick Google search would have tell them it takes place end of November, beginning of December.

daito_hakToday  12:01 pm JST

France had more than 100 millions of tourists in 2023. Yet you don’t hear them complaining about what is objectively rare occurrence of bad behavior. 

The reaction of Japanese to mass tourism is grotesque yet again Japan has far less tourists than other countries. They should swallow their arrogance and learn a little bit of humility from those countries

France has had tons of tourists for decades, so they are accustomed to it.

In addition if you Google it you will find that many French people also hate mass tourism. Preferred destinations, such as the south of France, have seen one-third of their accommodations converted into Airbnbs, causing rents for locals to become outrageously high.

@NCIS Reruns

Also, Europe has their own Fall/Autumn. And yes, leaves change colours there too (unthinkable, I know). You're right it's a bit of a weird reasoning.

Great to see more tourists in Japan,especially the well behaved one.

As someone states the majority of them tend to visit the Tokyo-Osaka-Kyoto triangle for most of the time and it would be nice to see them visiting other cities and prefectures.

If you remember as I clearly do, Kyoto was crying, begging the government for help with tourism so low the city didn't even have money.

Kyoto was fantastic without tourists. The locals I met seemed so much happier during Covid. Like this massive 70 million tourists a year burden had been lifted from them.

Is overtourism really a thing?

Yes. It's when little things like riding the bus become impossible. Cities are designed with a certain population number in mind and when that bubbles over you have chaos.

Kyoto already has a 100 yen or so tax per night on tourists. Bump that up to 5,000 yen and you might have a chance at fixing the infrastructure problems.

wallace

Today 12:12 pm JST

Antiquesaving

> are you organizing and paying for the shipments bought by foreign buyers back to their home countries or are they doing it? Expensive these days.

Why would I pay?

They buy they put it in their baggage and leave!

Tourists don't buy 50kg tansu.

Japanese crafts like Urushi , ceramics, kimonos, washi paper, vintage clothing, the smaller cast iron teapots on occasion the larger ones, hand forged carbon steel kitchen knives, etc...

At this show one older Japanese man with his grandson were selling beautiful hand made fishing poles, his grandson would like to do as his grandfather and make a living out of it but new clients are needed.

I wonder, do you think that Japan is only for the foreigners like you or that you approve of?

I am genuinely asking the question, because you are quite consistent in your comments that are clearly not wanting others especially foreign tourists to be anywhere near you or where you live.

Definitely time to drop that tax free. It was made for lower tourist numbers but now they are higher than ever, get that extra 500 yen.

Many prefectures do not have the facilities for large numbers of tourists. Lack of public transport systems. Lack of hotel rooms.

AntiquesavingT

are you organizing and paying for the shipments bought by foreign buyers back to their home countries or are they doing it? Expensive these days.

Why would I pay?

I didn't say you pay.

They buy they put it in their baggage and leave!

I would not want to put an expensive antique plate in my traveling suitcase. Before package sending was so easy from the PO but not anymore.

Tourists don't buy 50kg tansu.

But they buy expensive items, yes.

Japanese crafts like Urushi , ceramics, kimonos, washi paper, vintage clothing, the smaller cast iron teapots on occasion the larger ones, hand forged carbon steel kitchen knives, etc...

At this show one older Japanese man with his grandson were selling beautiful hand made fishing poles, his grandson would like to do as his grandfather and make a living out of it but new clients are needed.

I wonder, do you think that Japan is only for the foreigners like you or that you approve of?

I don't know why you would post that. Himeji Castle is 15 km from where I live. 3 million tourists per year. But in our small city of less than 100,000 people, there is no infrastructure for mass tourism. So I'm happy they don't visit here.

I am genuinely asking the question, because you are quite consistent in your comments that are clearly not wanting others especially foreign tourists to be anywhere near you or where you live.

I think that's just your misunderstanding. Mass tourism needs an infrastructure. We only have small buses and limited trains. But on the Seto Inland Sea so a very beautiful location. Some tourists come in the spring for the plum blossom at the World Plum Blossom Park. But they are all-day trippers.

If there was an infrastructure the tourists might visit but probably not.

Most of the tourists to Himeji Castle are day trippers from Osaka and Kobe. There isn't much to do after 9 pm and many eating places close.

Antique

Hey. Pipe down old top. You’re getting too aggressive to others because they don’t share exactly your sentiments. We can give our opinions politely without going OTT. Obviously you’re well pleased about the tourists but you weren’t about people like me and Commodore going out enjoying life and supporting local businesses during the pandemic.

Of course more money is coming in and some benefit but in some areas it causes issues for the residents like us. We’ve decently had tourists congregating on the steps outside our place drinking beers and junk food and then littering. Also using the alley at the side that leads to the bike shed and rubbish bins as a urinal and a place to puke. I expect the type of tourists who would go to a craft fair are different than these types but we can’t pick and choose who comes in.

so.... something over a million people arriving every day? that's a lot of aircraft!!!!

wonder what the average length of stay is, per person, and according to country of origin.

ah! got my sums wrong..... but it's still a lot of planes, and I still wonder about the other....

diagonalslipToday  so.... something over a million people arriving every day? that's a lot of aircraft!!!!

It would be 100,000 arriving each day. Still a lot of aircraft....

Mass tourism needs an infrastructure. Even when there is one like in Kyoto it cannot no longer deal with the mass tourism at the cost to the locals.

Mass tourism needs an infrastructure.

It is there!

You do remember that this country once had a higher population, which also had a far higher internal tourists industry.

Go to Izu half the resorts are dead or dying, thousands of vacation homes are now Akiya (abandoned homes, Nagano is in a similar state resorts across the country are empty, rental vacation homes empty, hotels empty.

All that is needed is to decide to drop the idea that domestic tourism is going to return to what is was and start accepting foreigners.

Yet you don’t hear them complaining about what is objectively rare occurrence of bad behavior.

That is because the local standard already set, is significantly more raucous than Japan.

Why it is that way? Is another debate. But it is clearly a much lower bar for social etiquette and decorum, in modern Europe.

Antiquesaving

Mass tourism needs an infrastructure.

It is there!

Sorry, there are many hundreds of locations without an infrastructure for mass tourism whether domestic or foreign. We don't have a transport system or hotel beds to deal with it.

You do remember that this country once had a higher population, which also had a far higher internal tourists industry.

And so?

Go to Izu half the resorts are dead or dying, thousands of vacation homes are now Akiya (abandoned homes, Nagano is in a similar state resorts across the country are empty, rental vacation homes empty, hotels empty.

> All that is needed is to decide to drop the idea that domestic tourism is going to return to what is was and start accepting foreigners.

80% of Kyoto's tourism is domestic.

Trains need to add more cars. Too many tourists are taking up seats.

Great for Japan economy..

Tourists, behave well please..