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 well-liked vacationer areas, the query is now not rhetorical.
In Niseko, a ski resort in Hokkaido well-known for its powdery snow, a bowl of crab ramen can value as much as 3,800 yen ($24.68) and katsu curry as much as 3,200 yen ($20.78) – round 3 times as a lot as in close by Sapporo, considered one 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 value virtually 7,000 ($45.46) – or 5 occasions what locals would usually count on to pay.
Avenue stalls in Tokyo’s Tsukiji Market, Kyoto’s Nishiki Market and Osaka’s Dotonbori neighbourhood have additionally raised eyebrows with nibbles priced nicely above the going fee.
As Japan experiences a surge in vacationers on the again of a weak foreign money, some companies are charging a premium for his or her fare.
The observe 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 file 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 in opposition to the greenback.
Because of this, travellers are usually not essentially baulking at restaurant costs which can be equal to what they’d pay for sometimes lower-quality meals again dwelling.
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, 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 isn’t unprecedented for eating places to have completely different costs on their Japanese- and English-language menus, Tamateboko’s determination 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, stated she was frightened in regards to the optics of the development, cautioning in opposition to any insurance policies that may very well be perceived as discriminatory.
“Figuring out international friends invited by Japanese or tax-paying international residents [at restaurants] might be tough,” Kato instructed Al Jazeera.
“Japanese and non-Japanese-type segregation will carry disagreeable stress and discontent … We have to be very cautious about that.”
Leaving a foul style
Whereas tourism trade insiders consider Japan ought to capitalise on inbound guests’ elevated buying energy, some are sceptical that two-tiered pricing is the way in which to do it.
Andres Zuleta, founding father of Boutique Japan, a luxurious journey firm that gives customised holidays, stated that whereas he’s “all for Japan discovering moral and inventive methods to monetise the tourism growth,” companies that cost completely different costs based mostly on nationality are more likely to generate resentment.
“Discounted pricing for locals might make sense, however having completely different costs on an English menu versus a Japanese menu is certain to go away a foul style – excuse the pun – in individuals’s mouths. The thought of tiered pricing appears extra more likely to be palatable at [tourist] websites and such,” Zuleta instructed Al Jazeera.
Andrew William, founding father of Kyoto-based tour firm An Design, stated that whereas it’s comprehensible for companies to cost foreigners costs they’d count on to pay at dwelling when they’re making bookings from abroad, it’s riskier doing so in Japan.
“An indication with a two-tiered pricing would look very dangerous,” William, whose tour firm specialises in off-the-beaten-track excursions of Kyoto’s historical non secular websites and gardens, instructed Al Jazeera.
“Plus, are locals going to have to point out their ID in every single place they go? Possibly that isn’t so dangerous, however it appears awkward.”
Nonetheless, some Japanese officers seem unperturbed about foreigners’ perceptions.
Hideyasu Kiyomoto, the mayor of Himeji Metropolis, lately steered that international vacationers pay as much as 4 occasions greater than the usual admission fee to go to Himeji Fortress, Japan’s first UNESCO World Heritage Web site.
Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura expressed his help for the concept, suggesting he might undertake a mannequin for Osaka Fortress.
The top of the Hokkaido Tourism Group has additionally known 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 masking the prices of heritage conservation to coaching English-speaking workers.
Kato, the Wakayama College professor, stated that proprietors have to be extra particular and clear in regards to the prices.
“Heritage conservation itself shouldn’t be the explanation for charging foreigners extra,” she stated.
“And language points shouldn’t be the onus of particular person companies or institutions. There needs to be authorities help for implementing multilingual interfaces and coaching English-speaking guides.”
Japanese authorities asking guests to cough up greater than locals will not be with out precedent.
Miyajima Island, a preferred 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 charge.
Since 2019, international travellers have additionally been levied 1,000 yen upon departure, which officers stated could be used to assist enhance tourism infrastructure, equivalent to Wi-Fi and multilingual help.
Kato stated Japan has quite a bit 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 wish to see a confrontational strategy: cost additional for every part and cost cash to enter in every single place,” she stated.
“Bear in mind, tourism ought to all the time be a cheerful trade.”
