Japan’s Tourist Tsunami

                       by David Parmer

There is an old saying “Be careful of what you ask for—you just might get it.” In the run-up to the Tokyo Olympics, Japan’s government set a target of 20 million tourists by 2020, but in 2015 ( according to a Japan Times report on January 19, 2016) the number of tourists to Japan totaled 19.73 million.

A virtual tidal wave of tourists came to Japan in 2015, and Japan seemed hard pressed to cope with it. The Japanese government is said to be planning to revise its 20 million tourists by 2020 target upward, and the 20 million mark itself may very well be hit in 2016.

So where is the rub? On face value it all seems good. But there is a real question whether a traditionally-insular country like Japan can cope with so many visitors. Japanese TV programs highlight the tourist influx focusing on the “bad manners” of visitors to Tokyo and Kyoto but fail to mention the ¥3.48 trillion that visitors pump into the struggling Japan economy.

And a final question might be how will Japan deal with tourists when the number jumps to close to 30 million/year? It seems that tourists need education on the customs and mores of Japan, but could it also be possible that Japan needs to find some way to deal with this “golden tsunami” that is hitting its shores? Please log in and give us your thoughts.

Photo: Kamakura, Great Buddha. DP.