Echoing the view, Makoto Yonekawa of Nomura Real Estate Solutions Co.’s research and consulting division proposes to disperse tourists by discovering the charms of less-exposed areas.
“It’s necessary to create a sustainable tourism model that provides satisfaction to tourists without harming residents’ quality of life,” Yonekawa added.
Some local governments are increasing their accommodation taxes to fund programs to tackle issues caused by flooding foreign visitors. Among them, the Osaka prefectural government plans to raise 1 billion yen through its tax hike to clean up littered streets in the prefectural capital’s Minami shopping and entertainment area in fiscal 2026, starting April.
The Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other members of the local business community are also trying to decentralise visitors.
“However, I feel like nothing is going smoothly,” an Osaka economic organisation official said. “We are facing mounting tasks, such as setting up multilingual signs and training Japanese workers to deal with foreign customers.”
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
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