Australians heading to Japan will soon be asked to pay an increased hotel tax as hordes of tourists descend on the historic city of Kyoto.
More than one million Aussies travelled to Japan between July 2024 and June 2025, according to the Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO).
It marked a 128 per cent year-on-year rise.
As Japan’s popularity as a holiday destination grows, tourist accommodation in Kyoto has increased its hotel tax in a bid to reduce overcrowding.
From March 2026, all tourists will be charged between 200 yen ($1.99) to the maximum cap of 10,000 yen ($99.37), across five tiers.
For example, those paying between 6000 yen ($59.62) and 19,999 yen ($198.71) per night, will see the lodging tax double from 200 yen to 400 yen.
For the highest tier, tourists paying 100,000 yen ($993.60) per night will be charged 10,000 yen ($99.36) – ten times the original amount.
Currently, tourists can be charged a maximum of 1000 yen ($9.94) per night, which has been in place since Kyoto introduced a three-tiered tourist tax in 2018.
Australians planning to visit the Japanese city of Kyoto will be forced to pay an increased tourist tax from March, 2026 (pictured tourists in one of Kyoto’s main streets)
Budget-conscious Aussies will see only a small increase, but those booking luxury stays could be hit harder, according to Japan Travel.
The exemption for school trip students with chaperones will remain in place.
It is understood the revenue from the tourist tax will be funnelled into infrastructure, programs for sustainable tourism and measures to counter over-tourism.
Aussies on social media were divided on the policy.
‘Honestly, a pretty smart move in theory. Let’s see how it is implemented,’ one said.
‘I doubt this is going to thin out the crowds much, but if it means more income for the city, great,’ a second person wrote.
But a third argued the tax was targeting the wrong type of traveller to Japan.
‘Most tourists do not earn anywhere near enough to stay in a 30k per night hotel room, let alone 100k,’ they said.
Aussie travellers booking high-end accommodation will see the greatest impact from the tax
‘The brunt of these increases will be borne on business travellers and precisely the kind of tourist the Japanese government has spent decades trying to attract, while doing nothing to disincentivise the tourists who are actually contributing to the overcrowding.’
Kyoto is not the only city in Japan to introduce a tourist tax, with Tokyo enforcing a similar charge in 2002, followed by Osaka in 2017.
At least 13 municipalities across the country have adopted the fee as of April, with nearly 50 more considering similar measures.
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Aussies heading to Japan to be stung by a new tourist tax with travellers to spend an extra $100 a NIGHT in Kyoto
AloJapan.com