Japan visitors spent ¥5.86 tril through September, breaking annual record

Yet all we hear about is over tourism and annoyances. 40 billion bucks injected into a sick and ailing economy.

Has to be good!

, official data showed on Wednesday, demonstrating the economic power of a tourism boom fueled by the weak yen.

And that boom in wealth has resulted in rising standards of living for the citizens right?

Tourism like gambling all benefits the 'house', the rentier capitalist owners of the shops, transport, hotels etc.

I don't know of one person who has benefitted in any way from all of these inbound tourists! All it has done is raise prices for the average Taro Suzuki, made lines longer to enter any sightseeing place, and brought a class of tourist who are rude and troublesome.

Also, 40 billion why that is enough for Japan to buy itself a nice new aircraft carrier, or a few more F35's. It might seem like a lot of money, but not quite in reality.

You may marvel at the economic power of a tourism boom but 5.86 trillion yen is just over one percent of Japan’s GDP. Better than nothing though.

Guys, stop the whining, already.

Excellent, more money for the Japanese coffers..

But, behave well tourists, behave...

As long as the tourists stay in Tokyo then I’m happy!

Tourism like gambling all benefits the 'house', the rentier capitalist owners of the shops, transport, hotels etc.

All of whom invest and spend that money in their communities and pay taxes which benefits piano teachers, kindergarten teachers, nurses, police, firefighters, garbage men/women etc.

Japan is a beautiful country to visit and experience,let’s hope that there will be more tourism in other parts of Japan as well besides the golden route Kanto-Kansai area.

As long as the tourists stay in Tokyo then I’m happy!

I'm happy that many have come to spend their money in Chichibu and have given an economic boost to our community

The average visitor spent 223,000 yen on their trip, based on the data from July through September. Italians spent the most, followed by Spaniards and Russians

A bit surprised that that the 3rd largest spenders this summer were Russians.

I like many others are having to cut back on trips home, because of the increase cost of getting back to Europe now.

A crazy times we live in at the moment.

Excellent, more money for the Japanese coffers..

But, behave well tourists, behave...

After all of the inbounders read your helpful advice here in the comments section of JT, I’m absolutely sure that they will.

@Phil

Russians being #3 doesn't surprise me at all. Their economy is growing nicely, there is basically no debt and citizens are enjoying the highest standard of living in history.

"Visitor spending in Japan broke an annual record in just nine months, official data showed on Wednesday, demonstrating the economic power of a tourism boom fueled by the weak yen."

One reason why they will not really strengthen it.

And I love all the Japanese and weebs who praise this and say it indicates how great Japan is and then turn around and chide the visitors, agree they should be penalized through new taxes and fee increases JUST for being tourists, and asking the tourists not to go to THEIR areas.

And I love all the Japanese and weebs who praise this and say it indicates how great Japan is and then turn around and chide the visitors,

Perhaps not the same people?

By the end of the year, in USD terms, this should work out to around $50 billion. Instead of complaining about how things have increased price wise, or travel being crowded due to foreigners... you should be thinking on how to cash in on this increased business. This is an opportunity for those willing to take some risk and work. The more you / we can make the experience of visiting Japan better for tourists, the more often they will come and spend money. We should be thinking about creating tour companies, fixing up old Ryokans, producing more foreign friendly, domestically made Omiyage. The government should be planning on how to decrease overcrowding at certain major tourist locations and increasing tourism to other areas. Japan is perfect for tourism... great transportation, safe and, despite being westernized, a very unique culture. Quit complaining... get on the train... keep Japan Japan but make it work better.

I'm not surprised. After returning to Japan the other day, the flight was full of senior citizens visiting for a vacation.

Personally, I feel mightily embarrassed to see large numbers of wealthy tourists enjoying fine dining, copious shopping and luxury hotels whilst the Japanese enjoy none of those.

I don't know of one person who has benefitted in any way from all of these inbound tourists! All it has done is raise prices for the average Taro Suzuki, made lines longer to enter any sightseeing place, and brought a class of tourist who are rude and troublesome.

Also, 40 billion why that is enough for Japan to buy itself a nice new aircraft carrier, or a few more F35's. It might seem like a lot of money, but not quite in reality.

If this is really the case, why would the Japanese government, especially the local governments of many cities in Japan are so hell bend on promoting tourism?

The money that I spent on my trips to Japan goes directly into the pockets of the owners of the local restaurants I visited, the shops and department stores that I shopped etc. Money directly injected into local economies. That is the reason tourism is important to many areas in Japan.

Glad to see things getting back to normal or even better, congrats Japan, good news for everyone.

Italians spent the most, followed by Spaniards and Russians

The tourism people need to ditch the English and Korean and get going with the Mediterrean languages. Come to Japan, por favor!

The average visitor spent 223,000 yen on their trip, 

This is a very misleading figure. Problem is that in many prefectures they see only a fraction of this amount as the majority of the money is funneled back to the hotels and airlines that booked these tourists.

It is a fact, that in Okinawa, not all that long ago, the average tourist only left around 10,000 per tourist, in the local economy, and the rest went to the aforementioned corporations, headquartered outside the prefecture.

Sure it's gotten better, but not all that much, and numbers like this, need to be broken down to show where and how it affects local economies, or otherwise.

By the end of the year, in USD terms, this should work out to around $50 billion. Instead of complaining about how things have increased price wise, or travel being crowded due to foreigners... you should be thinking on how to cash in on this increased business. 

Well argued.

This is a time when so many around the world are wealthy and cashed up, and desperate to get to Japan. Opportunity knocks for those willing to cash in : starting up accommodation services; transport tourists to/from airports; act as guides/translators for foreigners entire trips; even just buying beverages wholesale and selling them roadside at a big mark-up to thirsty tourists. Among thousands more business ideas.

Plenty of opportunities for residents to cash in on this enormous boom. More Japanese kids should also be looking to major in hospitality at college. Japan is well placed to be the most visited nation on earth within a decade or two.

Japan visitors spent ¥5.86 tril through September, breaking annual record.

A lifesaver for J economy, for the hospitably sector.

Stop the huffing and puffing over-tourism whinging, efficiently manage the sector.

Tourism and hospitality management needs to be fully leveraged.

I lived in Yokohama from 1995-2005 and after moving by to the USA, re-visited bi-annually. In September, I took a two-week vacation to Tokyo, my first post-pandemic visit. I was astounded at the increase in foreigners visiting Tokyo and Yokohama. The article stated that foreign tourists (including me) spent $39.27 billion over a 9-month period, which breaks down to approximately $4.5 billion per month. Based upon what I saw in Tokyo and Yokohama alone, actually, I’m surprised the number isn’t much higher. It was commonplace to see foreign tourists walking around carrying 5+ bags with their purchases. And the bags were not from just Don Quixote or Uniqlo (inexpensive shopping). I’m talking high end retailers like LV, Chanel, etc. were doing brisk trade as well. Streetwear and sneaker shops in Harajyuku / Omotesandou probably have never seen so much business! I know because they made a lot of Yen off of me! Beware of the official numbers, though. What is the criteria for calculating the totals? Sure, it’s easy to match a foreigner to say an airline ticket purchase or hotel reservation. But, how can they account for say, I dropped,¥5,000 at a bar, ¥1,000 at a convenience store, or purchased two beverages from a vending machine. Is the person behind the counter pressing a “gaijin purchase” button or a camera on the vending machine registering my purchase as “foreign customer?” Sorry for my ramble. I’m just skeptical about that number. I’m sure it’s much higher than what was reported because there is no way that every little (or big) foreign tourist purchase can be tracked and tallied.

Nice, but I wonder where those invisible six trillions now reappear, I guess, not exactly in the 5% wage hikes. lol

Plenty of opportunities for residents to cash in on this enormous boom. More Japanese kids should also be looking to major in hospitality at college.

No. This is the lie of the tourist dollars trickling down and benefiting the populace.

I used to know lots of multi-lingual Japanese and foreigners working in the travel industry, hotels, as agents, guides etc. pre-COVID.

Those jobs evaporated overnight. They were not even given the dignity of being fired, their contract zero-hour work was suddenly scheduled to zero and they were told to take unpaid leave.

While the travel agencies like JTB were being bailed out. Search for all the articles about after the lifting of COVID restrictions the industry could not staff, almost everyone had moved on.

The tourist industry creates huge windfalls fro the owners and precarious minimum wage labor and overcrowding for everyone else.

Russians should not be allowed to Japan while their goverment is waging a war of agression.

As usual, none of the tourism cash is going to provide the basic service of rubbish bins on the streets, parks, and in train stations. It is a common complaint from the tourists I meet. They are quite surprised, as they thought Japan/Tokyo was "a civilized place". Really, when will this much needed and much missed mark of a world-class country return?

Fighto!Today  11:16 am JST

By the end of the year, in USD terms, this should work out to around $50 billion. Instead of complaining about how things have increased price wise, or travel being crowded due to foreigners... you should be thinking on how to cash in on this increased business. 

Well argued.

This is a time when so many around the world are wealthy and cashed up, and desperate to get to Japan. Opportunity knocks for those willing to cash in : starting up accommodation services; transport tourists to/from airports; act as guides/translators for foreigners entire trips; even just buying beverages wholesale and selling them roadside at a big mark-up to thirsty tourists. Among thousands more business ideas.

Plenty of opportunities for residents to cash in on this enormous boom. More Japanese kids should also be looking to major in hospitality at college. Japan is well placed to be the most visited nation on earth within a decade or two.

I don't want to sound like a Debbie Downer because I do agree with your statements, however, all it takes is one major natural disaster and the boon will go to a halt like it did in 2011. We should absolutely take full advantage of the current boon, but we should still be cautious as the tourism industry is very volatile and shouldn't be relied on. I also feel hospitality is something you learn on the job with experience, not in a classroom. Japanese can major on other subjects and have a fall back plan just in case the hospitality industry takes a hit like in 2011 and 2020 respectively. But I do love your optimism and I sure hope this tourist boon becomes a great step towards a brighter Japan!

“I don't want to sound like a Debbie Downer because I do agree with your statements, however, all it takes is one major natural disaster and the boon will go to a halt like it did in 2011.”

Here Here! Well said! Pandemics, in addition to natural disasters, will bring (did bring) the tourism money train to a halt as well. As usual, the Japanese government is clueless. Revenue for businesses and taxes/fees received by the government from foreign tourism should be thought of as a bonus, not a mainstay of the economy. If I can make an analogy, a worker (like me) should plan their life/family budget based upon their normal salary or hourly wage rate. Overtime wages and possible bonuses are welcome obviously (for most of us anyways), but should not be counted on for your everyday life expenses. Japanese businesses (unless their product or service is hyper foreign tourist-centric) and the government should think of foreign tourist revenue and taxes/fees as a bonus as well.