Tokyo, Japan – How a lot are guests to Japan keen to pay for a bowl of noodles or a serving to of sushi?
With restaurant costs hovering in standard vacationer areas, the query is not rhetorical.
In Niseko, a ski resort in Hokkaido well-known for its powdery snow, a bowl of crab ramen can price as much as 3,800 yen ($24.68) and katsu curry as much as 3,200 yen ($20.78) – round thrice as a lot as in close by Sapporo, one in every of Japan’s culinary hubs.
In Toyosu Senkyaku Banrai, a restaurant space subsequent to Tokyo’s largest seafood market, a bowl of rice topped with sashimi can price nearly 7,000 ($45.46) – or 5 occasions what locals would sometimes count on to pay.
Road stalls in Tokyo’s Tsukiji Market, Kyoto’s Nishiki Market and Osaka’s Dotonbori neighbourhood have additionally raised eyebrows with nibbles priced effectively above the going price.
As Japan experiences a surge in vacationers on the again of a weak forex, some companies are charging a premium for his or her fare.
The follow has even led to the coining of a slang expression, “inbound-don”, to explain rice bowls priced with deep-pocketed vacationers in thoughts.
Practically 17.8 million individuals visited Japan within the first half of 2024, surpassing the earlier document of 16.63 million in 2019, based on the Japan Nationwide Tourism Organisation (JNTO).
The surge in arrivals has been spurred, partially, by the slumping worth of the yen, which is buying and selling close to a 40-year low towards the greenback.
Because of this, travellers will not be essentially baulking at restaurant costs which might be equal to what they’d pay for occasionally lower-quality meals again house.
Some eating places, involved about alienating native clientele, have confined the worth hikes to non-residents solely.
Tamateboko, a seafood buffet restaurant in Tokyo’s Shibuya, just lately launched a two-tiered pricing construction, providing a 1,000-yen ($6.49) low cost to all Japanese residents and residents of Japan.
A weekday lunch prices 5,478 yen ($35.58) for residents and residents, and 6,578 yen ($42.72) for international travellers.
Whereas it’s not extraordinary for eating places to have completely different costs on their Japanese- and English-language menus, Tamateboko’s resolution was broadly reported in worldwide media, igniting heated dialogue about two-tiered pricing in Japan’s hospitality sector.
Kumi Kato, a professor of tourism at Wakayama College in Japan’s southwestern Kansai area, mentioned she was frightened concerning the optics of the pattern, cautioning towards any insurance policies that may very well be perceived as discriminatory.
“Figuring out international company invited by Japanese or tax-paying international residents [at restaurants] will probably be troublesome,” Kato instructed Al Jazeera.
“Japanese and non-Japanese-type segregation will convey disagreeable stress and discontent … We should be very cautious about that.”
Leaving a nasty style
Whereas tourism trade insiders imagine Japan ought to capitalise on inbound guests’ elevated buying energy, some are sceptical that two-tiered pricing is the best way to do it.
Andres Zuleta, founding father of Boutique Japan, a luxurious journey firm that gives customised holidays, mentioned that whereas he’s “all for Japan discovering moral and inventive methods to monetise the tourism increase,” companies that cost completely different costs based mostly on nationality are prone to generate resentment.
“Discounted pricing for locals may make sense, however having completely different costs on an English menu versus a Japanese menu is certain to depart a nasty style – excuse the pun – in individuals’s mouths. The thought of tiered pricing appears extra prone to be palatable at [tourist] websites and such,” Zuleta instructed Al Jazeera.
Andrew William, founding father of Kyoto-based tour firm An Design, mentioned that whereas it’s comprehensible for companies to cost foreigners costs they might count on to pay at house when they’re making bookings from abroad, it’s riskier doing so in Japan.
“An indication with a two-tiered pricing would look very unhealthy,” William, whose tour firm specialises in off-the-beaten-track excursions of Kyoto’s historic religious websites and gardens, instructed Al Jazeera.
“Plus, are locals going to have to point out their ID in every single place they go? Perhaps that isn’t so unhealthy, however it appears awkward.”
Nonetheless, some Japanese officers seem unperturbed about foreigners’ perceptions.
Hideyasu Kiyomoto, the mayor of Himeji Metropolis, just lately prompt that international vacationers pay as much as 4 occasions greater than the usual admission price to go to Himeji Citadel, Japan’s first UNESCO World Heritage Web site.
Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura expressed his help for the concept, suggesting he may undertake a mannequin for Osaka Citadel.
The top of the Hokkaido Tourism Group has additionally referred to as on companies throughout Japan’s northernmost important island to set completely different costs for vacationers and locals.
Amongst these arguing in favour of charging international vacationers extra, the rationale has run the gamut from protecting the prices of heritage conservation to coaching English-speaking employees.
Kato, the Wakayama College professor, mentioned that proprietors should be extra particular and clear concerning the prices.
“Heritage conservation itself shouldn’t be the rationale for charging foreigners extra,” she mentioned.
“And language points shouldn’t be the onus of particular person companies or institutions. There ought to be authorities help for implementing multilingual interfaces and coaching English-speaking guides.”
Japanese authorities asking guests to cough up greater than locals isn’t with out precedent.
Miyajima Island, a well-liked attraction off the coast of Hiroshima, well-known for its forests and the “floating” gate of Itsukushima shrine, launched a vacationer tax in October 2023.
Since July, hikers hoping to climb Mt Fuji’s hottest path have been required to pay a 2,000-yen ($12.99) entrance payment.
Since 2019, international travellers have additionally been levied 1,000 yen upon departure, which officers mentioned can be used to assist enhance tourism infrastructure, similar to Wi-Fi and multilingual help.
Kato mentioned Japan has loads to supply as a journey vacation spot, however the nation ought to solely extract extra money from guests if the worth is commensurate with the worth of the expertise.
“I don’t need to see a confrontational strategy: cost additional for the whole lot and cost cash to enter in every single place,” she mentioned.
“Bear in mind, tourism ought to at all times be a cheerful trade.”
