Japan sees 1 mn more tourists post-pandemic, new half-year record

Japan welcomed a million more foreign visitors in the first half of 2024 compared to pre-pandemic levels, logging a new record of 17.78 million, the national tourism organisation said Friday.

The weak yen is attracting large crowds to Japan, with tourists splashing out on everything from kimonos to knives and pricey meals.

The January-June figure beat the previous high from 2019 of 16.63 million, an influx that has prompted overcrowding concerns at hotspots such as Kyoto and Mount Fuji.

"It's important that we promote rural regions to visitors, while taking measures against overtourism," Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told a cabinet meeting on the nation's efforts to expand inbound tourism.

Japan is expecting 35 million overseas visitors in 2024, with tourist consumption estimated at eight trillion yen ($50 billion).

Over the whole of 2023, 25 million visitors came to Japan, after strict pandemic-era border restrictions were lifted.

The country has set an ambitious goal of luring 60 million tourists a year by 2030 -- around double 2019's full-year record of 31.88 million.

But some residents are already fed up with unruly behaviour and etiquette breaches by some foreign visitors.

In a town near Mount Fuji in May, authorities mounted a large barrier at a popular viewing spot next to a convenience store in an attempt to deter photo-taking.

New crowd control measures have been put in place on the volcano's most popular hiking trail, which now has an entry fee of 2,000 yen ($13) plus an optional donation.

Locals in tradition-steeped Kyoto have complained of tourists harassing the city's famed geisha, with visitors now banned from some private alleys.

And the mayor of Himeji has said the western Japanese city, famous for its castle, could make tourists pay four times as much as locals to visit the World Heritage site.

- 'Pretty bad in Kyoto' -

"The yen definitely being so weak, we knew our money would go a long way," Ian Dickson, a 41-year-old American, told AFP in Tokyo's Asakusa district, a top tourist draw.

"Love it so far," he added. "There's no trash on the ground, no litter. It's a beautiful country, beautiful culture."

Andrea Bugnicourt, 28, a French tour guide working in Tokyo, said demand has been "crazy" since the pandemic ended.

"I heard it's pretty bad in Kyoto," she said about the overtourism complaints.

"Japan has so many social rules, right? And people are not used to it. So I think the Japanese government should help on educating foreigners."

In the first six months of 2024, South Korean visitors to Japan topped the list of foreign tourists by country at 4.4 million.

China was second at around three million, five times as many as in the same period last year. Visitors from Taiwan were in third place and the United States in fourth.

Kishida's government on Friday presented plans to encourage luxury hotels to come to Japan's 35 national parks, Nippon TV and other local media reported.

The prime minister also instructed ministers to take emergency measures to address a jet fuel shortage, partly caused by surging demand from tourists, that has prevented airlines from increasing flights.