Japan can't have its cake and eat it, too. "This is Japan. Perhaps overtourism is a symptom of the present era of unprecedented affluence and hyper mobility, a consequence of late capitalism. People are forced to carry their litter around with them until they get home/back to their hotel.Parking... how many tourists hire cars in Japan? Savvy Tokyo At least these foreign tourists -- and I would LOVE to see the residents prove that all illegally parked cars were driven in by foreigners -- are parking in vacant lots for Pete's sake.Shinjuku, my neighborhood, is now the biggest tourist draw in Tokyo. It's not like the JP govt doesn't know/have access to the information. Some skiers will go there but not to Zenkoji or Matsumoto Castle, which strikes me as a waste.I think surveys like this can be helpful, but hope it is not full of loaded questions like "have you seen more gomi?" (eg. What's the disruption? They have taken one trip this year - to Kyoto...in Golden Week (2 nights). Name me one place where foreign tourist outnumber the amount of Japanese “tourists”?cant have it both ways folks.Maybe it's time to get rid of the "tax-free" shopping for foreign visitors. The State and the City along with the community are facing an extremely precarious situation today. And let’s be clear (*sigh.. again)japanese tourists in Japan significantly outnumber the overseas guests.“ageing population means more ppl are likely to commute/shop/travel at any given time”No, just the opposite. !Just be happy that they are doing it here. Here is one example:My in-laws are both retired and reasonably well off.
Elderly and retired people travel much less frequently than do younger employed people and those commuting to schools and universities.Looks like Japan is suffering from split personality when it comes to tourism from abroad, they want the money but not the people!“Japan” does not and should not have a “personality.” As in any country, there are divergent interest groups who want different things and because Japan has a relatively free news media you will naturally hear some people saying one thing and other people saying something else.I would also note that “overtourism” and resistance to it has become a hot button issue in a number of countries. Im sure many western countries have launched over tourism surveys. Are they included in the survey? I bet you that the reason why the 'surge of foreign visitors' is noticed (and therefore problematic) is because they are traveling outside of the normal holiday seasons for Japanese people.Absolutely ridiculous. Noise comes down to poorly built dwellings with no insulation.
What are you thinking???" Police would put the nation in the black in one day if they bothered to suddenly worry about nuisance complaints. Paradise has turned into Los Angeles and New York together!All you folk mumbling on about ending sales tax. Sometimes it's best to not survey and soldier on, the truth can be unbearable.I’ve lived in Tokyo for 13 years but never vacation domestically.