By Riho Bando
These days, you can find foreign tourists everywhere in Japan. They are enjoying Japanese sightseeing spots, their lunch and buying souvenirs. It makes Japanese people happy to see foreigners are in good mood. Furthermore, foreign visitors make good impacts to Japan. They affect Japanese economy, international relationships and regionalism.
One important effect of inbound tourism in Japan is consumption by foreign tourists. Domestic consumption of Japan is decreasing because of declining birthrate and aging population. Consumption by foreign tourists supports Japanese economy. According to Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (2023), foreign tourists spent over 1.3 trillion yen between July and September in 2023. 1.3 trillion is higher than the Japanese total vegetable exports to the U.S. in 2022 (Ministry of Finance, Japan, 2022).
Next great effect of inbound tourism is international goodwill. Having experience of Japanese society and culture will improve foreigners’ image of Japan. Not only people who visited Japan, but also his/her friends and colleagues will have a good image to Japan after they hear great experiences of trip in Japan. According to a survey that is done by Dentsu between December 2022 and January 2023, the amount of population who like Japan and who had visited Japan is larger than the people who had never visited Japan. It shows that visiting Japan helps to make a good impression for Japan.
Finally, inbound tourism gives great effect to rural areas in Japan. While for domestic tourists, Japanese rural scenery would not be interesting, for international tourists, they offer unordinary experiences. Foreigners perceive local sights as wonderful tourism resources. Yagasaki (2020) contend that after local residents receiving the evaluations, they feel more attached to their region and get civic pride. And cultivating attachment and civic pride of local residents will be a trigger to start tourism-based community development. This development leads to revitalization of the area. Tourist-friendly area will be visited by more tourists, therefore the region has chance to develop more and more. As a result, inbound tourism causes regional vitalization. In the book that is published by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Case examples of tourism development, the case of development in Nagano prefecture is shown. The snow monkey in there had gotten an attention by inbound tourists. Now, many foreign people love monkey in hot spring with snow and Nagano prefecture succeed to grow.
To summarize, foreign tourists grow Japanese economy, enlarge better impression and revitalize rural areas. Japan must take these advantages of inbound tourism. However, as you know, you must not leave promotion of inbound tourism to the Japanese government. Think about what you can do for magnificent Japanese future.
References
Ministry of Finance, Japan. (2022). Trade statistics of Japan. Retrieved from https://jpn01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.customs.go.jp%2Ftoukei%2Fshinbun%2Ftrade-st%2F2022%2F2022_117.pdf&data=05%7C02%7C%7C2992121ac60d47e186bc08dc1eedf0ba%7Cf11434e8abcf41f48154a9b2608dcd42%7C0%7C0%7C638419254508685372%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=b%2FwCaP4cxqn8ZG5h%2FTiPmGNEOJWAgPCabfsqhSs0iZE%3D&reserved=0
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. (2023). Survey of foreign visitors consumption in Japan. Retrieved from https://jpn01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mlit.go.jp%2F&data=05%7C02%7C%7C2992121ac60d47e186bc08dc1eedf0ba%7Cf11434e8abcf41f48154a9b2608dcd42%7C0%7C0%7C638419254508692843%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=zL%2FfMO08nrvWFneWJ7rPX9OGtq%2FXvWgWU0C5Ys%2FwPQc%3D&reserved=0
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Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. (2018). Targeting inbound visitors, rebuild and revitalization of hot spring resort using fund. Case examples of tourism development, 116-117. Retrieved from https://jpn01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mlit.go.jp%2F&data=05%7C02%7C%7C2992121ac60d47e186bc08dc1eedf0ba%7Cf11434e8abcf41f48154a9b2608dcd42%7C0%7C0%7C638419254508698375%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=cydw71tJLeOfibVSIRVizA0DxJntIiJjuMOwz3Cqvfg%3D&reserved=0
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Web dentsu-ho. (2023). Is the driving force for resuscitate of inbound Japanese soft power? Latest need for visiting Japan and direction of promotion. Retrieved from https://jpn01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdentsu-ho.com%2Farticles%2F8759&data=05%7C02%7C%7C2992121ac60d47e186bc08dc1eedf0ba%7Cf11434e8abcf41f48154a9b2608dcd42%7C0%7C0%7C638419254508702273%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=jG95hQ3V9bUvqdJRpeaHuQRfdEtwAqdDuv6tPWNj6D4%3D&reserved=0
Yagasaki, N. (2020). Significance, trends and issues of tourism by foreign tourists visiting Japan. International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences Review, 45(1), 6-17. doi: 10.24572/iatssreview.45.1_6
