Foreign Visitors to Japan in 2023: So Far: Updated April 2, 2024.

 

Foreign visitors to Japan in 2023 jump over 6-fold to 25.07 mil.

Article Source:  https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240117/p2g/00m/0na/047000c

Ideas:

No doubt the Bank of Japan notices that foreign visitors are taking advantage of their increased purchasing power due to the weak Japanese yen.

The challenge for the Bank of Japan, as it considers increasing the key rate, which will strengthen the Japanese yen against the US dollar, is to keep it as low as possible, but at the same time, not too low that it affects the imports prices into Japan.

But of course there are competing forces in the Japanese economy, as Japanese exporters prefer a weak Japanese yen, but Japanese importers prefer a stronger Japanese yen, and key rate, as a to not have import prices too low.

And then there is the variable of foreign visitors, who spend a lot with the weak Japanese yen, but if the yen become stronger it might deter some foreign visitors from going to Japan.

Again, as long as the Japanese yen remains somewhat weak, foreign visitors will continue to go to Japan. But even if its not so weak, for their liking, there still will be a sizeable number of foreign visitors to Japan.

South Korean travelers seemed, for the most part, to always like Japan, but a few years, ago, maybe some or many of them were afraid and or deterred from going to Japan because of negative rhetoric from some or many in South Korea toward Japan. 

Taiwan seems to always have a positive relationship with Japan, as the WW 2 experiences have not deterred Taiwan travelers to Japan. 

China is a different situation, as there seems to somewhat of a love/hate relationship at this time between China and Japan, and for example the Japanese seafood ban in China at this time.

In January of this year, 2024, I was going to get my suitcase at Haneda airport, having flown in from Seoul Gimpo, there was United Flight and group from Newark in New Jersey, in the US, as I've not seen flight from New York or New Jersey at Haneda before.

And yes, despite the political or cultural challenges, most likely, flights from China have not reached the 2019 level, as it might take some time for airlines, all airlines, to re-establish pre-covid flight schedules.

At the same time, related to Haneda and Narita, both ANA and JAL are moving some or many of their international flights from Narita, the traditional international entry into Japan, to Haneda, which is closer to the central part of Tokyo.

Hotel accommodations in Japan used to be fairly inexpensive, but since the pandemic, like everything else in Japan, hotel prices have increased a lot.

The spending numbers are very significant and the Bank of Japan and the Japanese government needs to pay attention to how much foreign visitors spend in Japan, and how much they contribute to the growth of the Japanese economy.

With inflation continuing to be a challenge for many Japanese households the weak yen and foreign visitors spending is a key variable for economic growth for the Japanese economy.

The fact that the average amount spent per visitor was 212, 000 yen, is a good indication, that the weak Japanese yen, is working, for foreign visitors and also of course put a lot of money into the Japanese economy.

Of course, again, there are some competing factors related to the weak Japanese yen, as for the most part, importers don't like the weak yen as it increases import prices.

So the Bank of Japan needs to find the right balance to keep foreign visitors going to Japan, with continued weak Japanese yen, and keep importers happier with a stronger Japanese yen.

Unfortunately, even in South Korea, duty-free shopping schemes are a major problem as maybe some foreign visitors do the exact same thing, without naming any foreign group who might be doing it.

Japanese post offices and shipping companies need to be able to check every duty free item, with receipts from customers to see when they were bought in Japan.

In my last trip to Japan in January of 2024, at a major store, the staff checked carefully what I was going to buy, that was duty free, and they recorded the products into a computer system along with a paper receipt that was attached to the products.

At the same time, it might be necessary to ask/inquire what the customer who buys duty free items, and or if they buy a large amount find out about why they purchases such as large amount.

The Japanese government needs to find ways to prevent foreign visitor groups from taking advantage of the duty free tax free system.

The ideas presented above might help but it won't stop all who try to circumvent the system.

Its sad and unfortunate that people cheat the system, but I guess that's human nature as they  try to cut corners.

Again, when a foreign visitors buys a duty free product, they need to pay the tax too, and then as they leave the country, then they can show their receipts and products and get a refund, and that might stop some of those those who try to cut corners.

The challenge for Japanese travelers might be inflation, and not able to save as much as they need or want to travel and of course the strong US dollar or Euro against the Japanese yen.

Also both ANA and JAL are opening more international routes this summer which might help increase the number of Japanese travelers overseas, along with the Japanese discount airlines which are increasing their flights to different countries in Asia too.

Have a nice day and be safe!