Japan Bound

Tokyo Shibuya is trying to educate visitors to keep manners ahead of Halloween

Tokyo Shibuya is trying to educate visitors to keep manners ahead of Halloween

Shibuya City Tourism Association in Tokyo has begun providing a special logo and poster of ‘SHIBUYA♡HACHI’ for free to encourage visitors to keep manners.Shibuya suffers from troubles with visitors’ manners, such as drinking or smoking on the streets, littering and so on.
NAVITIME Japan, a leading navigation app provider, adds an AI-based travel planning function on the navigation website for inbound travelers

NAVITIME Japan, a leading navigation app provider, adds an AI-based travel planning function on the navigation website for inbound travelers

NAVITIME Japan, a leading navigation app provider, has started offering a generative AI-based travel planning function on a web service for inbound travelers to Japan.
Tourism EXPO Japan 2024, the Japan’s largest travel trade exhibition, showcases new travel values

Tourism EXPO Japan 2024, the Japan’s largest travel trade exhibition, showcases new travel values

Four-days Tourism EXPO Japan (TEJ) 2024 opened on September 26, 2024 at Tokyo Big Sight, organizing symposiums, seminars, exhibitions and business meetings for outbound travel, inbound travel and domestic travel.
Kyoto City promotes ‘hands free tourism’ to avoid over-tourism, operating dedicated bus to travelers carrying large suitcases

Kyoto City promotes ‘hands free tourism’ to avoid over-tourism, operating dedicated bus to travelers carrying large suitcases

Kyoto City will operate dedicated bus, called ‘Hands Free Bus,’ to travelers carrying large suitcases from Kyoto Station to major hotels in this autumn as one of the efforts to avoid over-tourism.
New Japanese tour operators who are affirmative to enter the inbound travel market have reduced mainly because of worker shortage

New Japanese tour operators who are affirmative to enter the inbound travel market have reduced mainly because of worker shortage

The ratio of new tour operators who are affirmative to receive inbound travelers reduced from 51% in the last survey to 44%, according to JATA survey. The top reason was ‘worker shortage’ (61%).
International visitors to Japan were record-high for 7 months in a row with 2.93 million in August 2024

International visitors to Japan were record-high for 7 months in a row with 2.93 million in August 2024

The number of international visitors to Japan in August 2024 reached 2,933,000, 16.4% more than the same month in 2019 and 35% more than a year ago, marking record breaking for 7 months in a row.
The most-wanted non-alcohol beverage in Japan among travelers from Taiwan and Hong Kong is ‘milk’

The most-wanted non-alcohol beverage in Japan among travelers from Taiwan and Hong Kong is ‘milk’

The most-wanted non-alcohol beverages in Japan among travelers from Taiwan and Hong Kong is 'milk' because the quality of Japanese milk is very high with rich and tasty.
Japan National Tourism Organization will host ‘Adventure Week’ in Tohoku area in the autumn of 2025

Japan National Tourism Organization will host ‘Adventure Week’ in Tohoku area in the autumn of 2025

Japan National Tourism Organization JNTO) has decided to host ‘Adventure Week’ in Tohoku area in the autumn of 2025 in partnership with Adventure Travel Trade Association(ATTA).
‘Climbing restrictions for Mt.Fuji’ by Yamanashi Prefecture resulted in a 20% decrease in climbers this summer with no days exceeding the daily limit

‘Climbing restrictions for Mt.Fuji’ by Yamanashi Prefecture resulted in a 20% decrease in climbers this summer with no days exceeding the daily limit

Yamanashi Prefecture announced the results from the Mt.Fuji climbing restrictions on Fuji Yoshida Route this summer. The number of climbers for the period was down 18% year on year to 125,287, and there were no days exceeding the daily limit of 4,000 climbers.
Guest nights in Japan in July 2024 were up 8.6% year on year, boosted by a 35% increase in foreigners

Guest nights in Japan in July 2024 were up 8.6% year on year, boosted by a 35% increase in foreigners

The total number of guest nights in July 2024 (provisionally) was up 8.6% year on year to 59.2 million, which were also up 14.2% compared to the same month of 2019. Guest nights of foreigner travelers were up 35.2% to 14.9 million
Private tours to three famous temples in Kyoto are available for limited guests in HOTEL THE MITSUI KYOTO at 400,000 yen

Private tours to three famous temples in Kyoto are available for limited guests in HOTEL THE MITSUI KYOTO at 400,000 yen

HOTEL THE MITSUI KYOTO will offer ‘Special Private Tours’ to three famous temples in Kyoto, Kiyomizudera, Toji and Hokyoji, for limited guests in this coming autumn.
Autumn leaves in Japan are forecasted to start from Daisetsuzan Asahidake, Hokkaido in the middle of September

Autumn leaves in Japan are forecasted to start from Daisetsuzan Asahidake, Hokkaido in the middle of September

WeatherNews has forecasted that autumn leaves this year are expected to be at their average peak in many places. The peak will come in Daisetsuzan Asahidake, Hokkaido around September 14,
70% of Japanese people agree with ‘double pricing’ for inbound travelers particularly in culture facilities or nature preservation areas

70% of Japanese people agree with ‘double pricing’ for inbound travelers particularly in culture facilities or nature preservation areas

The latest survey on ‘double pricing’ for inbound travelers finds that 69.5% of Japanese respondents agreed to set higher prices for inbound travelers than for Japanese citizen particularly in culture facilities or nature preservation areas
Japan Tourism Agency requests several revisions in the duty-free rules to raise conveniences for inbound travelers

Japan Tourism Agency requests several revisions in the duty-free rules to raise conveniences for inbound travelers

Japan Tourism Agency requests several revisions in the duty-free rules to raise conveniences for inbound travelers and to reduce burdens on duty-free retailers, including abolition of the upper limit amount of 500,000 yen for consumable goods.
Japan’s leading travel firm HIS signs an agreement with Atami City for inbound tourism promotion

Japan’s leading travel firm HIS signs an agreement with Atami City for inbound tourism promotion

HIS, a Japan’s leading travel firm, and Atami City, a popular onsen destination, signed an agreement on inbound travel promotion. The first effort is that HIS Taiwan will send its local staff to Atami.
International visitors to Japan reached record-high 3.29 million in July 2024 with the most Chinese travelers of 776,500, totaling 20 million and more this year

International visitors to Japan reached record-high 3.29 million in July 2024 with the most Chinese travelers of 776,500, totaling 20 million and more this year

The number of international visitors to Japan in July 2024 reached record-high 3,292,500 on a single month basis, increasing by 10.1% compared to the same month of 2019, totaling record-high 21,069,900 for the first seven months of 2024.
A Japanese railway operator starts a pilot program to support international visitors, using generative AI by Google Gemini

A Japanese railway operator starts a pilot program to support international visitors, using generative AI by Google Gemini

JR East a Japanese railway operator., has started a pilot program ‘JR EAST Travel Concierge,’ to support travel planning for international visitors, using Google’s generative AI ‘Gemini’ and Google Cloud.
Foreigners’ guest nights increased in other local destinations than Golden Route in Japan, according to the May 2024 statistics

Foreigners’ guest nights increased in other local destinations than Golden Route in Japan, according to the May 2024 statistics

Foreigners’ guest nights in three major urban areas and in local areas was up 59.0% and 5.9% to 9.76 million guest nights and to 3.81 million guest nights respectively. The largest growth in comparison with May 2019 was seen in Ishikawa with 148.6% up.
EY Japan issues an insight report on over-tourism in Japan, introducing three major countermeasures

EY Japan issues an insight report on over-tourism in Japan, introducing three major countermeasures

EY Strategy and Consulting (EY Japan) has issued an insight report on over-tourism in Japan to introduce countermeasures taken in foreign countries and to reveal results of the survey on over-tourism.
Spending in Japan by an international traveler was up 54% to 230,000 yen in Q2 of 2024

Spending in Japan by an international traveler was up 54% to 230,000 yen in Q2 of 2024

Spending in Japan by international travelers in the second quarter of 2024 increased by 68.6% to 2,1 trillion yen compared to 2019. The highest average was seen in France with 417,536 yen per traveler.