Japan wants visitors, but not so many: the country declares war on mass tourism

Tourists, driven in part by the weak yen, which makes money go further in Japan, have been flocking to the country since 2022, when Covid-related entry restrictions were eased. Some officials, including Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, have expressed concern about overtourism. There were more than three million international arrivals in March, a monthly record, and an increase of more than 10 percent compared with March 2019.

Nearly two-thirds of international visitors come from South Korea, Taiwan and China. Last year, spending by foreign tourists accounted for about 9 percent of Japan’s gross domestic product.

Popular spots in cities like Kyoto, Japan’s former royal capital, seem to be increasingly out of control. Visitors are flooding into places that were once considered off-limits, like the small towns near Mount Fuji or the Kyoto shopping district where Matsumoto cuts hair.

“It used to be normal to see tourists in certain places,” Matsumoto said on a recent Saturday, sitting in a low chair at his hair salon. “But now they are spreading to random and unexpected places.”

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