{"id":17578,"date":"2025-06-20T15:14:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-20T22:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=17578"},"modified":"2025-08-04T15:29:51","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T22:29:51","slug":"my-shingetsu-news-agency-visible-minorities-column-67-intl-tourism-has-been-good-for-japan-where-i-argue-that-short-sighted-criticisms-about-japan-being-overtouristed-may-sp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=17578","title":{"rendered":"My Shingetsu News Agency Visible Minorities column 67: “Int’l tourism has been good for Japan” (June 19, 2025), where I argue that short-sighted criticisms about Japan being \u201covertouristed\u201d may spoil things, so don\u2019t let the debate backfire into racialized policymaking"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hi Blog. \u00a0I just got back from a tour in Japan and saw a lot of tourists. \u00a0“Overtourism is becoming a hot topic. \u00a0But it threatens to metaphorically “kill the golden goose”. \u00a0I offer my perspective in my latest SNA column on how even local NJ Residents are falling into the fallacy that tourism is “spoiling” Japan, because countermeasures are threatening to encourage racial profiling against them. \u00a0Read on. \u00a0Debito Arudou, Ph.D.<\/p>\n

==================================<\/p>\n

INTERNATIONAL TOURISM HAS BEEN GOOD FOR JAPAN<\/h4>\n
Short-sighted criticisms about Japan being \u201covertouristed\u201d may spoil things.\u00a0 <\/span>Don\u2019t let the debate backfire into racialized policymaking.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
SNA VM 67, June 19, 2025, By Debito Arudou<\/h5>\n

Courtesy https:\/\/shingetsunewsagency.com\/2025\/06\/19\/visible-minorities-international-tourism-has-been-good-for-japan\/<\/a>
\nLast month\u2019s column was late because I just got back from four weeks in Japan.\u00a0 <\/span>A luxury of academia is that in between semesters I can do long trips.\u00a0 <\/span>As retirement looms, I\u2019m finding ways to make life not only about work and column writing. \u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Interestingly, Japan is becoming part of that work-life balance.\u00a0 <\/span>Like so many other Japan long-termers (such as Donald Keene and Alex Kerr), I\u2019m finding myself living in Japan about twice a year.\u00a0 <\/span>I like both Japan and US better when I can take a break from each, enjoying the best of both worlds.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The interesting thing I discovered this trip, as the US goes through another periodic isolationist phase, is that Japan in contrast seems to be becoming more accommodating<\/strong>.\u00a0 <\/span>International tourism is making Japan into a more open society and an easier place to live.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

JAPAN IS OLD AND BORING.\u00a0 <\/span>EXCEPT FOR THE BOOMING TOURIST ECONOMY<\/h4>\n

When I first arrived in the 1980s, Japan was this forbidding, impenetrable, and \u201cinscrutable\u201d society hidebound to illogical systems.\u00a0 <\/span>A place with a pervasive \u201cculture of no,\u201d where any new idea was shot down as \u201clacking precedent.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>It certainly spent a lot of energy stymieing young, optimistic, reform-minded young people like me at the time.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

But I\u2019m aged 60 now, and finding Japan a lot more cooperative and friendly.\u00a0 <\/span>Even sensible.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Granted, it helps that I\u2019m fluent in the language, and Japan is inherently geared to serving old people who crave routine and predictability.\u00a0 <\/span>It prides itself on public transport running on time, social welfare systems being reliable, and government policy being predictable and boring. \u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I really get that now.\u00a0 <\/span>Given the decade of constant and wasteful spectacle generated by the Trump Era, not to mention a non-zero chance of outright civil warn in the US, I\u2019m actually craving a boring government.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

But one thing is certainly not boring about Japan:\u00a0 <\/span>the tourist economy. \u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This, of course, is the product of decades of government programs.\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cCool Japan,\u201d \u201cYokoso Japan,\u201d and \u201cOmotenashi\u201d have had their intended effect.\u00a0 <\/span>Japan is becoming a major world tourist hub.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This trip I saw a lot of it.\u00a0 <\/span>In addition to my regular flaneuring around Tokyo, I nipped out to Nagano, Osaka, Nara, Okayama, and Fukuoka.\u00a0 <\/span>I saw firsthand how Japan is successfully coping with more diversity than ever before\u2014while fighting its reflex to blame foreigners for everything.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

JAPAN\u2019S TOURISM IN PERSPECTIVE<\/h4>\n

The rate of growth of Japan\u2019s tourism from overseas has indeed been startling, tripling from under 10 million to over 30 million foreign visitors in about a decade. \u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

From that has sprung a lot of hoopla about Japan is becoming \u201covertouristed.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>A quick Google<\/a> will find much griping and sniping:\u00a0 <\/span>overcrowding, traffic congestion, bad manners, garbage, luggage, noise, intrusive photography, etc.\u00a0 <\/span>Some even call it an \u201cinvasion.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s the blame reflex.\u00a0 <\/span>But let\u2019s keep things in perspective. \u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

First, Japan is still a relative laggard compared to other countries. \u00a0 <\/span>It doesn\u2019t even make the top ten.\u00a0 <\/span>According to World Population Review<\/a>, the most-visited countries in terms of international tourist arrivals are predicted to be (in descending order, 2024):\u00a0 <\/span>France, Spain, the US, China, Italy, Turkey, Mexico, Thailand, Germany, and the UK. \u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Japan bubbles under at #11.\u00a0 <\/span>No doubt those rankings will change as the US self-sabotages its tourist economy, but Japan\u2019s numbers are still less than half the totals of each of the top five.\u00a0 <\/span>And yet they somehow manage their foreigner \u201cinvasions\u201d with a lot less grumbling.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Second, it\u2019s important to note that most tourism in Japan does not involve inbound foreigners.\u00a0 <\/span>According to Statista<\/a>, more than 80% of tourism in Japan over the past decade has been domestic.\u00a0 <\/span>So when you talk about a tourist in Japan, they\u2019re overwhelmingly likely to be a Japanese.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

That said, that looks to change.\u00a0 <\/span>For the first time in 2024, record numbers of tourists from overseas made up nearly a quarter of all tourist expenditure, and tourism in general is now a significant part of Japan\u2019s economy.\u00a0 <\/span>According to the World Travel and Tourism Council<\/a>, successive record-breaking years of tourists now amount to an estimated 7.5% of Japan\u2019s GDP. \u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This means after more than thirty years of economic stagnation, tourism is the one reliable source of growth and jobs.\u00a0 <\/span>It\u2019s forecast to account for one in ten jobs in the Japanese workforce by 2034. \u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

RISING TO THE OCCASION WITH CLEAR ACCOMMODATION<\/h4>\n

Staying three weeks just outside Ginza this trip, I saw for myself the fruits of this tourism boom, and I think Japan is handling it pretty well. \u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ginza\u2019s streets and shops were crowded as usual, but this time there was enough ferment of foreign languages around me to make me feel I was back in Europe.\u00a0 <\/span>Non-Japanese (NJ) were navigating trains, subways, and the shinkansen, and I saw no apparent source of concern.\u00a0 <\/span>The NJ staff in the name-brand shops and convenience store counters were normal to the point of mundane. \u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Local businesses and facilities seem to be coping just fine.\u00a0 <\/span>Along all the major train arteries were multilingual maps and ticketing machines.\u00a0 <\/span>Food menus, especially at the chain restaurants, were on iPads or via tabletop QR codes in at least four languages.\u00a0 <\/span>No actual spoken interaction between customer and staff was required for people to get service. \u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s quite a change.\u00a0 <\/span>Not so long ago, there were frequent cases of establishments with \u201cJapanese Only\u201d signs and rules.\u00a0 <\/span>Their most common excuse for refusing NJ entry was the presumption of a language barrier.\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWe don\u2019t speak foreign languages, so we can\u2019t give foreigners good service.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>So naturally they gave them no service at all.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Of course, exclusionism still happens (and people still send me \u201cJapanese Only\u201d signs occasionally).\u00a0 <\/span>But from what I saw, businesses have found a workaround.\u00a0 <\/span>As they will.\u00a0 <\/span>The lure of the foreign tourist yen has been irresistible, and it\u2019s knocking down barriers.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Now tourism looks likely to expand beyond the beaten paths.\u00a0 <\/span>I saw phalanxes of foreign tourists in places as far-flung as Tsuruga.\u00a0 <\/span>In the backstreets of Ginza, I saw lines around the block for boutique sandwiches and other fad foods that tourists told me they found on Instagram and YouTube.\u00a0 <\/span>People aren\u2019t just following the tour guide flags.\u00a0 <\/span>They\u2019re finding their own adventures.\u00a0 <\/span>Which means the rising tide of tourist funds will incentivize businesses nationwide to lose their exclusionary rules.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

BLOWBACK FROM THE LOCALS<\/h4>\n

Of course not everyone is happy, and one surprising voice of dissent I found were long-term NJ Residents I talked to.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

They felt foreign tourists were spoiling things.\u00a0 <\/span>Echoing the standard complaints that people worldwide always make about tourists (including Japanese tourists abroad a generation ago), they find fewer and fewer \u201cunspoiled\u201d places where they can escape crowds,\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s why they too support some means to tamp down on foreign tourists.\u00a0 <\/span>Such as dual pricing.\u00a0 <\/span>Entry restrictions.\u00a0 <\/span>Higher entry and exit taxes to deter the onrush.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I asked why they supported charging foreigners extra.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBecause they are causing extra problems.\u00a0 <\/span>Places have to provide menus and services in other languages.\u00a0 <\/span>That costs money.\u00a0 <\/span>Foreigners should foot that bill.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Me:\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cSo I guess that means you\u2019d be in support of a tax on handicapped people, because one has to provide extra \u2018barrier-free\u2019 services to them, yes?\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>Well, uh, no.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Me again:\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cAnd how would you enforce a dual pricing policy?\u00a0 <\/span>Don\u2019t you think that foreign residents of Japan\u2014like you\u2014and Japanese-citizen Visible Minorities would also wind up being charged extra just because they didn\u2019t look \u2018Japanese\u2019 enough?\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

They responded with the fact they faced dual pricing structures in other countries.\u00a0 <\/span>To which I said, \u201cYes, but you were incoming tourists there.\u00a0 <\/span>You might think differently if you were a resident of that country and charged more just for looking foreign.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Some cited Hawaii\u2019s \u201cKama\u2018aina<\/a>\u201d discount for Hawaiian residents as extra pricing for foreigners.\u00a0 <\/span>To which I said, \u201cBut when I was a resident there, I too got the \u201cKama\u2019aina\u201d discount once I got my Hawaii driver license.\u00a0 <\/span>So it wasn\u2019t racialized enforcement.\u00a0 <\/span>It was a matter of residency.\u00a0 <\/span>It\u2019s not the same system.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Their grumble would then return to how the tentacles of foreign tourism were killing off their special Japan.\u00a0 <\/span>Whereupon I noted that, again, most tourism in Japan is still overwhelmingly domestic, done by residents of Japan, including crowds and pollution.\u00a0 <\/span>We basically hear about foreign culprits because they\u2019re more easily targeted by media.\u00a0 <\/span>Their retort was basically yeah but still.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

That was generally how our conversations went.\u00a0 <\/span>I politely left unspoken their sense of entitlement\u2014how only they should retain the privilege of visiting a depopulated temple, shrine, or natural area.\u00a0 <\/span>But if others might wish to have the same experience, that would spoil it.\u00a0 <\/span>Lucky my friends got there first so they could close the door behind them.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

HALF-BAKED ARGUMENTS AND PUBLIC POLICY<\/h4>\n

Unfortunately, the Japanese Government is falling into similar logical fallacies.\u00a0 <\/span>Local governments<\/a> are already instituting higher fees starting in July at some places (such as Hokkaido\u2019s Niseko ski resort), where the policy rubric is \u201cforeign tourist\u201d vs \u201cJapanese residents.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>Again, where do foreign residents fall? \u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

As the Japan Times<\/a> noted on June 5, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is considering hiking the departure tax (currently levied on Japanese and foreign departer equally) only for foreigners.\u00a0 <\/span>And it still lumps foreign tourist and NJ Resident together as a single unit.\u00a0 <\/span>Worse, as usual, lawmakers are explicitly only considering the concerns of \u201cthe people (Japanese citizens)\u201d in their policy rhetoric. \u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Even columnist Gearoid Ready<\/a> (who generally goes out of his way to defend Japan government policies) in 2024 wrote a Japan times article entitled, \u201cJapan really should charge tourists four times more\u201d and make it a nationwide policy.\u00a0 <\/span>But then he didn\u2019t include himself as a resident of Japan, and didn\u2019t discuss how this policy would personally affect him. \u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Again, this isn\u2019t being well thought through.\u00a0 <\/span>And it\u2019s especially ironic that some of the strongest voices are from by reactionary NJ Residents who are potentially penalizing themselves.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Some of this understandable.\u00a0 <\/span>With any social change there is going to be fallout and blowback.\u00a0 <\/span>The point is to make sure that all parties have a voice at the table when crafting public policy to resolve problems.\u00a0 <\/span>This should include locals, Japanese tourists, foreign tourists, and foreign residents.\u00a0 <\/span>There should be conscious distinctions between each as interest groups.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s also important to remember why we are in this situation.\u00a0 <\/span>The government and by-and-large the locals wanted this.\u00a0 <\/span>And they got it.\u00a0 <\/span>Now live with it and tweak it.\u00a0 <\/span>Don\u2019t make a xenophobic meal out of it.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The bottom line is that the tourism boom has been a net positive.\u00a0 <\/span>It\u2019s stimulating the economy, enriching both guest and host, made people more flexible about dealing with diversity, and made Japan more accessible and less inscrutable. \u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Most importantly, from my point of view, it\u2019s torn down more \u201cJapanese Only\u201d signs than I ever could have.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The potential is there for this all to go sour.\u00a0 <\/span>But this is what happens when you see foreigners as an economic entity but not a domestic political force.\u00a0 <\/span>Time for that to stop.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

And it\u2019s especially time for NJ Residents not to shoot themselves in the foot by agreeing with discrimination against tourists.\u00a0 <\/span>Because in many policymakers\u2019 view, all foreigners are tourists.\u00a0 <\/span>Change course.\u00a0 <\/span>Because with the direction things are going, they won\u2019t be part of the \u201cKama\u2019aina\u201d unless they push for it.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

ENDS<\/p>\n

======================
\nDo you like what you read on Debito.org? \u00a0Want to help keep the archive active and support Debito.org’s activities? \u00a0Please consider donating a little something. \u00a0More details here<\/a>. Or if you prefer something less complicated, just click on an advertisement below.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Excerpt: The rate of growth of Japan\u2019s tourism from overseas has indeed been startling, tripling from under 10 million to over 30 million foreign visitors in about a decade. \u00a0<\/p>\n

From that has sprung a lot of hoopla about Japan is becoming \u201covertouristed.\u201d\u00a0 A quick Google will find much griping and sniping:\u00a0 overcrowding, traffic congestion, bad manners, garbage, luggage, noise, intrusive photography, etc.\u00a0 Some even call it an \u201cinvasion.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the blame reflex.\u00a0 But let\u2019s keep things in perspective. \u00a0<\/p>\n

First, Japan is still a relative laggard compared to other countries. \u00a0 It doesn\u2019t even make the top ten.\u00a0 According to World Population Review, the most-visited countries in terms of international tourist arrivals are predicted to be (in descending order, 2024):\u00a0 France, Spain, the US, China, Italy, Turkey, Mexico, Thailand, Germany, and the UK. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Japan bubbles under at #11.\u00a0 No doubt those rankings will change as the US self-sabotages its tourist economy, but Japan\u2019s numbers are still less than half the totals of each of the top five.\u00a0 And yet they somehow manage their foreigner \u201cinvasions\u201d with a lot less grumbling.<\/p>\n

Second, it\u2019s important to note that most tourism in Japan does not involve inbound foreigners.\u00a0 According to Statista, more than 80% of tourism in Japan over the past decade has been domestic.\u00a0 So when you talk about a tourist in Japan, they\u2019re overwhelmingly likely to be a Japanese…<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, locals grumbled to me how the tentacles of foreign tourism were killing off their special Japan.\u00a0 Whereupon I noted that, again, most tourism in Japan is still overwhelmingly domestic, done by residents of Japan, including crowds and pollution.\u00a0 We basically hear about foreign culprits because they\u2019re more easily targeted by media.\u00a0 Their retort was basically yeah but still.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the Japanese Government is falling into similar logical fallacies.\u00a0 Local governments are already instituting higher fees starting in July at some places (such as Hokkaido\u2019s Niseko ski resort), where the policy rubric is \u201cforeign tourist\u201d vs \u201cJapanese residents.\u201d\u00a0 Again, where do foreign residents fall? \u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also important to remember why we are in this situation.\u00a0 The government and by-and-large the locals wanted this.\u00a0 And they got it.\u00a0 Now live with it and tweak it.\u00a0 Don\u2019t make a xenophobic meal out of it.<\/p>\n

The bottom line is that the tourism boom has been a net positive.\u00a0 It\u2019s stimulating the economy, enriching both guest and host, made people more flexible about dealing with diversity, and made Japan more accessible and less inscrutable. \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,75,18,43,36,22,34,50,35,52,5,12,76,26,73,4,14,13,60,11,55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-embedded-racism","category-japanese-only-signs","category-academia","category-bad-business-practices","category-bad-social-science","category-cultural-issue","category-exclusionism","category-gaiatsu","category-good-news","category-hate-speech","category-human-rights","category-immigration-assimilation","category-important-statistics","category-ironies-hypocrisies","category-japans-blame-game","category-japanese-government","category-japanese-politics","category-media","category-nj-voices-ignored","category-problematic-foreign-treatment","category-tourism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17578"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17578\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17591,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17578\/revisions\/17591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}