Editing Tourism in Japan (section)

== Current status ==
Domestic tourism remains a vital part of [[Economy of Japan|Japanese economy]] and [[culture of Japan|Japanese culture]]. Across the nation, Japanese children in many middle schools see the highlight of their years as a visit to [[Tokyo Tower]], [[Yomiuriland]], [[Tokyo Disneyland]], [[Sensō-ji]], and/or [[Tokyo Skytree]], and many high school students often visit [[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa]] or [[Hokkaido]]. The extensive rail network together with domestic flights sometimes in planes with modifications to favor the relatively short distances involved in intra-Japan travel allows efficient and speedy transport. [[International tourism]] plays a smaller role in the Japanese economy compared to other developed countries; in 2013, international tourist receipts was 0.3% of Japan's GDP, while the corresponding figure was 1.3% for the United States and 2.3% for France. In 2019, the value was up to 1.0% of GDP, driven by an increase in international tourism, while the country's GDP has remained stable.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/ST.INT.RCPT.CD?end=2019&most_recent_value_desc=true&start=1995|title=International tourism, receipts (current US$) {{!}} Data|website=data.worldbank.org|access-date=January 19, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?end=2019&most_recent_value_desc=true&start=1960|title=GDP (current US$) {{!}} Data|website=data.worldbank.org|access-date=January 19, 2024}}</ref>

Tourists from South Korea have made up the largest number of inbound tourists several times in the past. In 2010, their 2.4&nbsp;million arrivals made up 27% of the tourists visiting Japan.<ref name=Dickie>{{cite news|last=Dickie|first=Mure|title=Tourists flock to Japan despite China spat|url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/6a76579a-2945-11e0-ab2f-00144feab49a.html|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210221236/https://www.ft.com/content/6a76579a-2945-11e0-ab2f-00144feab49a|archive-date=December 10, 2022|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|access-date=March 16, 2012|newspaper=Financial Times|date=January 26, 2011}}</ref> Travelers from China have been the highest spenders in Japan by country, spending an estimated 196.4&nbsp;billion yen (US$2.4&nbsp;billion) in 2011, or almost a quarter of total expenditure by foreign visitors, according to data from the Japan Tourism Agency.<ref>{{cite web|title=Tokyu Group in steadfast pursuit of Chinese tourists|url=http://www.ttgmice.com/article/tokyu-group-in-steadfast-pursuit-of-chinese-tourists/|publisher=TTGmice|access-date=April 18, 2013}}</ref> From 2016 to 2020, Japanese government hoped to receive 40 million foreign tourists every year by 2020.<ref name="10year">{{cite web | url=http://www.ibtimes.sg/japan-offer-10-year-multi-entry-visas-chinese-part-tourism-push-1462 | title=Japan to offer 10-year multi-entry visas for Chinese as part of tourism push | work=[[International Business Times]] | date=May 17, 2016 | access-date=May 17, 2016 | author=Bhattacharjya, Samhati}}</ref> According to the [[Japan National Tourism Organization]] in 2017, 3 out of 4 foreign tourists came from other parts of East Asia, namely South Korea, mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/02/06/national/japan-tourism-agency-aims-draw-western-tourists-amid-boom-asian-visitors/ |title=Japan Tourism Agency aims to draw more Western tourists amid boom in Asian visitors |date=February 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190107231243/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/02/06/national/japan-tourism-agency-aims-draw-western-tourists-amid-boom-asian-visitors/ |archive-date=January 7, 2019|publisher=[[Japan National Tourism Organization]]}}</ref> [[Cinema of Japan|Japanese film]], [[Television in Japan|TV]], [[Video games in Japan|video game]], and [[manga]]/[[anime]] industries play a role in driving tourism to Japan. In surveys held by [[Statista]] between 2019 and 2020, 24.2% of tourists from the [[United States]], said they were motivated to visit Japan because of [[Japanese popular culture]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.statista.com/topics/7495/anime-industry-in-japan/#dossierKeyfigures|title=Anime industry in Japan - statistics and facts|website=Statista|date=26 February 2021}}</ref>

=== Overtourism ===
Following the easing of COVID-19-era travel restrictions, 2024 is on track to be a record-breaking year for the number of overseas tourists.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2024-05-15 |title=Japan visitors exceed 3 million for second straight month, tourism agency says |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/05/15/japan/foreign-tourists-3-million-second-month/ |access-date=2024-07-11 |website=The Japan Times |language=en}}</ref> This tourism boom can be attributed in part to the weakening [[Japanese yen]].<ref name=":0" /> The unprecedented number of foreign tourists has led to claims that some parts of Japan are suffering from [[overtourism]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Inoue |first=Yukana |date=2024-06-30 |title=Mount Fuji begins charging entrance fees as overtourism prevention measure |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/06/30/japan/society/mount-fuji-entrance-fee/ |access-date=2024-07-11 |website=The Japan Times |language=en}}</ref>

In response to this surge, officials in some parts of Japan have introduced measures to counter its negative effects. For example, [[Yamanashi Prefecture]] has set a cap of daily climbers of [[Mount Fuji]] at 4,000 people and began charging an entrance fee of ¥2,000.<ref name=":1" /> Also in Yamanashi Prefecture, a mesh barrier was set up to block a view of Mount Fuji behind a [[Lawson (store)|Lawson]] convenience store in [[Fujikawaguchiko]] due to tourist-caused disturbances in the area.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gardin |first=Caroline |date=2024-05-21 |title=Weary of overtourism, Japan town blocks one popular view of Mount Fuji |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/05/21/japan/society/mount-fuji-overtourism/ |access-date=2024-07-11 |website=The Japan Times |language=en}}</ref>

As of 2024, some Japanese officials have considered instituting a two-tiered pricing system which would have foreign tourists pay more than residents at certain tourist attractions in order to counter the effects of overtourism.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2024-06-19 |title=Japan’s Flood of Tourists Prompts Call to Charge Foreigners More |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-06-19/japan-s-flood-of-tourists-prompts-call-to-charge-foreigners-more |access-date=2024-07-11 |work=Bloomberg.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=In Japan, higher prices for foreign visitors come with caveats |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Comment/In-Japan-higher-prices-for-foreign-visitors-come-with-caveats |access-date=2024-07-11 |website=Nikkei Asia |language=en-GB}}</ref>