Japan is ‘rammed’ with tourists – and Chinese visitors aren’t even back in full force

Cherry blossom season is already a success, but travel sector acknowledges that more tourism brings issues like cultural conflicts and overcrowding

Insiders say the government has had 3 years, during pandemic, to engage with sector on staffing and infrastructure, but ‘they have failed to do that’

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Many operators say there are already worrying signs of the overtourism. Photo: Kyodo

Published: 11:30am, 15 Apr 2023Updated: 2:26pm, 16 Apr 2023

Japan’s travel industry is already reporting that the first post-coronavirus cherry blossom season has been a huge success, with the number of foreign tourists in April expected to equal the 2.9 million visitors in April 2019, before the pandemic devastated the sector.

But while travel businesses are broadly welcoming the return of overseas visitors, they concede that millions of tourists can be a double-edged sword. Many operators say there are already worrying signs of the overtourism and stresses that were causing friction before the nation’s borders were shut.

They also warn that overcrowding and reports of what are often politely described as “cultural misunderstandings” between tourists – American, Chinese or visitors from other parts of Asia who have little experience of Japanese social norms – and local residents will inevitably increase now Beijing has given citizens the green light to travel.

Japan began easing restrictions on foreign tourists in October last year, welcoming 3.8 million arrivals over the course of 2022. That figure is significantly down on the record 31 million arrivals in 2019, of whom around 9.6 million were Chinese, but a massive improvement on the 245,900 reported in 2021.

There is widespread optimism that 2023 will see the recovery pick up speed, with domestic travel giant JTB Corp anticipating 21.2 million arrivals over the course of the year. That would put the nation on track to meet the government’s target of 60 million visitors in 2030.

Yet critics claim the authorities have not used the three-year hiatus for the industry to solve the problems associated with overtourism.

“I am deeply concerned about that problem and it’s something that I’ve seen for myself in the last few days,” said Avi Lugasi, owner and managing director of the Kyoto-based Windows to Japan tour company.