Fewer Japanese people traveling domestically, government blames birth rate, others blame foreign crowds, costs

On Tuesday, the Cabinet of Japan released its annual tourism white paper, based on data for the 2024 administrative year. The report found that roughly 36.87 million foreign tourists visited Japan last year, a record-setting number. But while Japan’s travel destinations are proving more attractive than ever to visitors from overseas, the local population is traveling less. 540 million Japanese residents traveled domestically last year, which is an 8.2-percent drop compared to 2019, the last year before the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

The report points to Japan’s declining birth rate and contracting population as key reasons for the lowered number, and says that efforts should be made to increase the number of times Japanese people travel domestically and the length of their stays. Among the initiatives aiming to do that is one in the town of Kotohira, Kagawa Prefecture, in which coordinators arrange for travelers spend a portion of their time working in local restaurants or inns to offset the cost of their trip. Another program matches travelers with locals in rural parts of Niigata and Nagano Prefectures for agricultural experiences, giving them a chance to meet locals and work alongside them at their farms, creating interpersonal connections and hopefully encouraging repeat visits to the area once it starts to feel like a second hometown.

However, online reactions to the report aren’t quite so sure that lowered domestic travel numbers are something that can be pinned entirely on Japan’s low birth rate. After all, it’s not like the population has shrunk by 8.2 percent since 2019. Instead, online commenters have been pointing to two other reasons they haven’t been traveling as much: crowds and costs.

Starting with the crowds, the sudden surge in inbound overseas tourists has been dampening domestic travel demand, especially in the country’s most famous sightseeing spots. Not that places like Kyoto and Shibuya weren’t already crowded with domestic travelers before, but the influx of overseas visitors has raised the congestion to unprecedented levels, and with a growing public perception that some of them have very poor manners, the atmosphere isn’t exactly attractive to many Japanese residents.

As for costs, a major factor for the inbound tourism boom is the weak yen. Seeing waves of foreign travelers with fat stacks of yen converted from their home-country currencies, hotels have dramatically raised their prices, and so have restaurants and other tourism-related businesses. But while the weak yen means the increased prices are still very palatable to foreign tourists, locals find themselves in the opposite situation. The weak yen and inflationary trends mean that the cost of just about everything (groceries, utilities, clothing, commuter train fares, etc.) has gone up in Japan considerably over the past few years, but without corresponding wage increases for the vast majority of workers. With most Japanese people trying to figure out how to tighten their belts and adjust to having less disposable income, many are balking at the high prices hotels and other travel providers are charging.

▼ Eating the extra costs for hotels and Shinkansen tickets isn’t as easy to do when the rice you eat now costs twice as much as it did a year ago.

Add it all up, and it’s not surprising that, when faced with the prospect of carving more money out of a shrinking household budget to have a less enjoyable vacation, many Japanese people are deciding it’s not worth it, as shown by online reactions to the Cabinet’s white paper such as:

“Stuff’s too expensive, and hotels are way too expensive. Simple as that.”
“I feel like I’m getting ripped off when I travel domestically these days.”
“It’s clear that places are raising their prices because they’re aiming for foreign tourists.”
“This was inevitable. It’s gotten hard to find a place to stay that isn’t being affected by inbound overtourism.”
“I already have to ride a crowded train to work every day, so no way am I going to spend my vacation somewhere crowded too.”
“There are a lot of places I’d go if they weren’t so jam-packed with foreign tourists.”
“I mean, it’s gotten hard to find available hotel rooms, and even when you can, they’re so expensive, and the sightseeing spots are so crowded…I only take day trips now.”
“I got no money.”

Unfortunately for anyone bothered by inbound tourism-triggered price increases and congestion, the situation has the potential makings of a self-accelerating cycle. If domestic travelers avoid certain hotels or destinations because they’re too expensive and crowded with foreign tourists, those businesses will naturally become more reliant on inbound foreign tourists leveraging their currency exchange advantages, which will in turn lead to larger crowds and higher prices, making those places even less attractive to domestic travelers.

Finally, it’s worth noting that despite the decreased number of domestic Japanese travelers, last year those who did travel domestically spent over 25 trillion yen (US$172 billion), the largest amount on record. With fewer total domestic travelers, though, that means that those who are traveling domestically are spending more per person, suggesting that even domestic travel currently feels like a luxury to many Japanese people, with a growing gap between those in a position to splurge and those whose finances are compelling them to stay home.

Source: NHK News Web via Jin, Twitter/@nhk_news
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert images: Pakutaso(1, 2)