Nearly 30% of Japan prefectures saw crowds surpass pre-COVID levels

The worst performer was Tokyo's Shinjuku station, down 21.4 percent from 2019

Why this is worst, this good, nobody want to be stuck inside Shinjuku station.

Due to a shift in drinking culture, fewer people are staying out late at night as they did before

Again this is good, less people stay late at night and drinking. So they have more rest without overloading their liver with liquor.

"Crowds".... there are crowds every single day, in nearly every single municipality, in Japan at one point or another.

I have read some pretty lame stuff here over the years, but this one is just stretching things.

Define "crowd"

oo many tourists around here, many uncouth, loud and with poor manners. 

Yup! And it's just going to get worse as more and more foreign travelers take advantage of the weak yen and come here to visit.

I almost felt sorry for the people who were stuck here in Okinawa last week during the typhoon. Spend all that money just to stay in a hotel room!

But then I woke up!

Good to see people out and about. Smiling and having some fun for a change.

The Chinese government have just OKed Chinese tour groups to restart visiting Japan. That with 145 Yen to the dollar is going to make crowding something to get used to.

It seems that it’s going to take take time for travelers and those in the travel and hospitality sectors to go back to the way things were before. It looks like a good start.

too many tourists around here, many uncouth, loud and with poor manners.

I’m living close to the castle in Osaka, and even with the large number of foreign tourists, that hasn’t been my experience at all. Perhaps true, though, in some of the dodgy parts of the city.

I almost felt sorry for the people who were stuck here in Okinawa last week during the typhoon. Spend all that money just to stay in a hotel room!

But then I woke up!

Yeah, let's not show any sympathy for our fellow man, many of whom have likely looked forward to and saved up for their dream trip for a couple of years. Right?

Define "crowd"

This will be the same equipment/cameras and whatever used during Covid to see if the (soft) lockdown was working. There were regular reports saying whether efforts to get people to work from home etc were working. Foot traffic at major stations is something that is measured.

Get some data about something in Japan and flesh it out is classic reporting in Japan. Stories can be trivial in the extreme.

Visited Kyoto recently. 80% were foreigners.

80% of Kyoto visitors are domestic.

Yeah, let's not show any sympathy for our fellow man, many of whom have likely looked forward to and saved up for their dream trip for a couple of years. Right?

Wrong! They only have themselves to blame as it was known for at least a week prior to it hitting that the weather was going to be bad, one way or another. And no I have zero empathy for people who can afford to spend literally thousands of dollars for a "vacation" when most of the world has no idea what a "vacation" even is.

You should look up the meaning of the word "sympathy", as you used it incorrectly here, as you are stating you want me to have pity for them, and there is no way in hell I am going to feel pity for someone who can spend that kind of cash on a vacation.

The word you should be using is "empathy"

Of course, they're crowded. With the low yen nobody can afford to go abroad! You keep trying to put a good spin on it!

mountainpearToday  01:42 pm JST

Of course, they're crowded. With the low yen nobody can afford to go abroad! You keep trying to put a good spin on it!

This right here. I think the only reason why crowds have surpassed pre-pandemic levels in some places is because 1.) you've got the foreign tourists coming here and taking advantage of the incredibly weak yen, and 2.) you've got the domestic tourists (Japanese) who simply can't afford to leave the country due to said incredibly weak yen. It honestly sucks. I'd like to be able to afford to go home and see my family again some day.

I was out in Namba at night last weekend and I was quite surprised to see the amount of western looking foreigners, honestly more than pre covid by the looks of it. I didn't think it would normalize this fast, especially with flights from Europe having doubled in price and length because of Russia.