Foreign visitors to Japan hit 3.7 mil. in May, new record for month
KYODO NEWS - 14 hours ago - 21:14 | All, Japan, Travel/Tourism
The number of foreign visitors to Japan in May rose 21.5 percent from a year earlier to 3.7 million, a record for the month, government estimates showed Wednesday, as travel demand remained strong even after cherry blossom season.
By country and region, South Korea topped the list with 825,800 visitors, up 11.8 percent, followed by China with 789,900, a 44.8 percent increase, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization.
The two countries and 19 other markets set new visitor records for May, while those from India hit a record monthly high of 43,000, up 47.9 percent from the previous year, it said.
"The momentum is strong, and we are on a very good trajectory," Japan Tourism Agency Commissioner Naoya Haraikawa told a press conference, while also noting that a concentration of visitors in the country's three major metropolitan areas -- Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya -- remains an issue.
Japan received some 18.1 million foreign arrivals from January to May, up 23.9 percent from the same period in 2024.
Travel demand has remained strong on the back of school holidays in some markets, with a surge in visitors from China, the Philippines and the United States providing support, according to the organization.
Among all countries and regions individually tracked, only Hong Kong saw a decline in May from the previous year, down 11.2 percent to 193,100. It is believed that a Japanese manga predicting a major disaster in Japan this July has discouraged travel.
The Japan National Tourism Organization office in Hong Kong has issued a statement on Facebook refuting any scientific basis for the date and location of the rumored disaster.
Related coverage:
Gov't wants Japanese travelers to see more of their own backyard
Japan's departure tax revenue hits record high in FY 2024
Chinese tourists returning to Japan with new travel style
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SoraNews24
4 hours ago
- SoraNews24
All you need to know about Japan's unasked-for restaurant appetizers that you have to pay for
Otoshi is a unique part of Japan's restaurant culture that can feel like a scam if you're not ready for it. With record-breaking numbers of foreign tourists visiting Japan, that means there are also record-breaking numbers of foreign tourists eating in Japanese restaurants. And while there's a lot to love about dining out in Japan, from delicious food to sterling service, there's also a potentially awkward, annoying, and confusing aspect to it. When eating at non-fast-food restaurants in Japan, right after you're seated the waitstaff will usually bring you a moist towel. Some restaurants might bring you a cup of tea as well, and another possibility is that your server will bring you an appetizer in a small dish. However, while unasked-for towels and tea are complementary services, the small dish of food is not, and you will be required to pay for it. This unsolicited appetizer is called an otoshi, which comes from the word tosu meaning to pass or be led though, as in a customer being led through the restaurant's entrance to their seat. In the vast majority of restaurants that have otoshi, the type of food you're brought is entirely up to the restaurant, so you won't be asked what sort of otoshi you'd like. A plate will simply be brought to the table for every member of your party, generally with the waitstaff matter-of-factly saying Otoshi desu or Otoshi de gozaimasu ('Here is your otoshi'). The otoshi is never anything particularly fancy, often some pickled or simmered vegetables, a bit of tofu, or a morsel of meat or fish (the otoshi in the photo above is a few omelet slices and some squid). It's also never very big. Most otoshi can be consumed entirely in two or three big bites. And no, otoshi aren't especially tasty either. While they sometimes use regional or seasonal ingredients, otoshi are routinely the most forgettable part of the meal, in terms of flavor, and there aren't any restaurants that have customers lining up because of their high-quality otoshi. ▼ Shredded cabbage with a bit of dressing, served as an otoshi So why do otoshi exist? As a substitute for service charges. Japan, famously, has no tipping in its restaurant culture, and while bars (as in places that serve drinks only) often have a table charge, restaurants generally don't. The otoshi is a sort of compromise: the restaurant doesn't want to charge customers simply for the privilege of dining within its walls, but the otoshi's small portion size and simple ingredients mean the cost to make them is negligible, and so the price customers pay for otoshi is almost entirely profit. Still, for many foreign travelers in Japan, being bought something you didn't order, aren't allowed to send back, and yet have to pay for can be shocking, and perhaps the most confusing thing of all is that rarely, if ever, do restaurants mention how much they charge for their otoshi until they bring you your bill. There's no sign at the door or sticker on the menu letting you know how much extra you're going to have to pay for your meal. You might expect that that sort of vagueness would make Japanese people angry too, but the otoshi system causes very few arguments between Japanese customers and restaurants. It's rare for otoshi to be less than 300 yen (US$2.10), most are 600 yen or less, and even at more expensive places they're unlikely to hit quadruple-digit prices. So when Japanese people are going out to eat at izakaya (Japanese-style pubs), 'dining bars' (i.e. fancy izakaya), or high-end traditional Japanese restaurants, the types of restaurants where otoshi are most commonly encountered, they're generally braced to pay about 500 yen or so more than the cost of the food and drinks they ordered. What's more, the clientele at those kinds of restaurants tends to be either groups of friends or coworkers, for whom splitting the bill is the norm in Japan, or couples on dates, and so generally no individual person themselves is paying all that much extra. Meanwhile, at fast food or casual restaurants, including teishokuya (set meal restaurants), ramen joints, and revolving sushi restaurants, the sorts of places where you might find a family dining together and a parent paying for several other people's meals, there's no otoshi. Still, it's understandable if you, as a traveler in Japan, feel uneasy about otoshi. Maybe you're still new to the Japanese restaurant scene and not 100-percent confident you can tell an izakaya from a teishokuya, or maybe you're on a tight budget and not in a position to take a loosey-goosey attitude about how much your dinner is going to cost. And yes, while they're by no means common, there are unscrupulous restaurants in Japan that charge exorbitant prices for woefully small and low-quality otoshi, but picking up on their shady aura can be tricky if you're only recently arrived in the country. So with that in mind, here are two Japanese phrases to keep in your linguistic back pocket in case you want to confirm the otoshi situation before you sit down and get brought a dish: ● Otoshi wa arimasu ka? / お通しはありますか？ 'Is there an otoshi?' ● Otoshidai wa ikura desu ka? / お通し代はいくらですか？ 'How much is the otoshi charge?' That way you can be sure that you and the restaurant are on the same page regarding Japan's appetizers that don't appear on the menu. Photos ©SoraNews24 ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow Casey on Twitter, where he could really go for some chilled edamame right now.
Kyodo News
6 hours ago
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Regions cashing in on Japan's anime, manga soft power reach: study
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Kyodo News
6 hours ago
- Kyodo News
Regions cashing in on Japan's anime, manga soft power reach: study
KYODO NEWS - less than a minute ago - 11:29 | Arts, All Visits by foreign tourists to locations related to manga and anime works in Japan have proven a boon to local economies, a research institute said, providing impetus for more areas to cash in on the nation's soft power reach. In 2024, around 3 million foreign tourists, or 8.1 percent of 36.87 million inbound visitors, likely visited places linked to movies or anime. That is up from 4.8 percent, or an estimated 1.15 million, of the 24.04 million who did so in 2016, the Meiji Yasuda Research Institute said based on a government survey. Purchases of anime and manga-related goods are estimated to have totaled 54.3 billion yen ($372 million) last year, up 53 percent from 2016, the report said. Japan's anime industry continues to expand, with more than 3 trillion yen spent by consumers globally in 2023, while animated films led domestic box office revenues in recent years. The phenomenon known as "seichi junrei," literally meaning "holy pilgrimage," has become a rite of passage for fans. They visit places that inspired or were the real-life settings for popular works. The trend became prominent after the success of 2016 Japanese anime film "your name." One popular destination among foreign fans is the Homangu Kamado Shrine in Fukuoka Prefecture linked to the "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba" anime and manga series. The southwestern prefecture ranked fifth in the nation in foreign tourist numbers, said Takafumi Fujita, an economist at Meiji Yasuda Research. In addition to its positive impact on local economies, the growing popularity abroad of Japanese content, including games and movies, also has the potential to reduce the country's massive digital trade deficit. While Japan incurred a record 6.8 trillion yen digital trade deficit in 2024 due to domestic firms' heavy reliance on technologies provided by U.S. IT giants, exports of Japan's entertainment content, which stood at 4.7 trillion yen in 2022, could offset much of the deficit if the industry continues to grow, the report said. However, the benefits are tempered by some downsides. Fujita said local governments need to address overtourism issues affecting the lives of those who live near the popular locations. "To accommodate a large number of tourists, including those from abroad, local authorities need to develop systems to offer multilingual support and train local tourism volunteers," Fujita said. Related coverage: FEATURE: Anime "Slam Dunk," "Suzume" locations in Japan a magnet for tourists FEATURE: Tokyo spots bank on cherry blossom peak as foreign tourists return FEATURE:Korea boom in Japan sparked by drama 20 yrs ago kept going by young
