Benefits for Foreign Tourists Spark Debate in Japan

Tokyo, June 7 (Jiji Press)–Local governments in Japan are facing criticism over measures to attract foreign visitors, including subsidizing Shinkansen bullet train fares and waiving admission fees, which critics call “unfair.” This fiscal year, the prefectural government of Kagoshima in the Kyushu southwestern Japan region launched an initiative to attract foreign visitors as their numbers remained below levels before the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative includes fully subsidizing Shinkansen fares worth around 10,000 yen for one-way trips from Hakata Station in Fukuoka Prefecture, also in Kyushu. The goal is to inform potential visitors from countries without direct flights to Kagoshima that they can reach the prefecture via Shinkansen trains. However, about a month after the initiative was announced in February, it drew around 600 complaints, including “Is it preferential treatment for foreigners?” and “I don’t want foreigners to come if our taxes are used.” “We’re also working to attract Japanese people, but only the project for foreign visitors has received attention,” said an official of the prefectural government said. “We hope to invite both domestic and foreign tourists while carefully explaining the measures.” Nara Prefecture, western Japan, had exempted foreign visitors from entry fees for four facilities, including the prefectural art museum, since 2008. It abolished this program in April 2024, following social media posts claiming that measures that give preferential treatment only to foreigners were wrong. “Many (foreign visitors) learn it is free only after they come to the counter, so it has not helped attract customers,” Nara Governor Makoto Yamashita pointed out. “We can’t gain the understanding of the people of the prefecture.” In Shimane Prefecture, western Japan, 33 facilities, including Matsue Castle and various art museums, offered discounts for foreigners as of fiscal 2019, but there have been moves to abolish these since 2023. The prefectural government had promoted the discount system to track visitor numbers, but changed its policy as the number of wealthy tourists increased thanks to a weaker yen. Some facilities stopped offering discounts amid criticism of preferential treatment for foreigners. Nevertheless, 11 facilities, including the Adachi Museum of Art and the Iwami Ginzan World Heritage Center, which are popular among foreign tourists, continue to offer discounts. In line with the 2025 World Exposition in the western Japan city of Osaka, the Shimane prefectural government has also developed a project to more than halve expressway bus fares to 2,000 yen for routes between Osaka Prefecture and Shimane. “We’ll decide whether to continue this service based on how it has been used,” said a prefectural government official. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]