Stomach growls: Japanese restaurants are irritated by rising tourist prices | Tourism

Tokyo, Japan – How much are visitors to Japan willing to pay for a bowl of noodles or a serving of sushi?

With restaurant prices rising in popular tourist areas, the question is no longer rhetorical.

At Niseko, a ski resort in Hokkaido famous for its powdery snow, a bowl of crab ramen can cost up to 3,800 yen ($24.68) and katsu curry up to 3,200 yen ($20.78) – about three times more than in neighboring Sapporo, one of Japan’s culinary centers.

At Toyosu Senkyaku Banrai, a restaurant area near Tokyo’s biggest seafood market, a bowl of rice topped with sashimi can cost almost 7,000 ($45.46) — or five times what locals would normally expect. pay.

Street stalls in Tokyo’s Tsukiji Market, Kyoto’s Nishiki Market and Osaka’s Dotonbori neighborhood also raised eyebrows with snacks priced well above the current price.

As Japan sees a surge in tourists due to a weak currency, some companies are charging a higher price for their fares.

The practice even led to the creation of a slang term, “inbound-don,” to describe bowls of rice priced specifically for well-heeled tourists.

Nearly 17.8 million people visited Japan in the first half of 2024, surpassing the previous record of 16.63 million in 2019, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO).

The increase in arrivals has been spurred in part by the falling value of the yen, which is trading near a 40-year low against the dollar.

As a result, travelers are not necessarily hesitant about restaurant prices that are equivalent to what they would pay for food, often of lower quality, in their home country.

Some restaurants, worried about alienating local customers, have limited price increases to nonresidents only.

Tamateboko, a seafood buffet restaurant in Shibuya, Tokyo, recently introduced a two-tier pricing structure, offering a 1,000 yen ($6.49) discount to all Japanese citizens and residents of Japan.

A weekday lunch costs 5,478 yen ($35.58) for citizens and residents and 6,578 yen ($42.72) for foreign travelers.

While it is not unheard of for restaurants to have different prices on their menus in Japanese and English, Tamateboko’s decision was widely reported in international media, triggering heated discussions about two-tier pricing in Japan’s hospitality sector.

Kumi Kato, a tourism professor at Wakayama University in Japan’s southwestern Kansai region, said she was concerned about the optics of the trend, warning against any policies that could be seen as discriminatory.

“Identify foreign guests invited by Japanese or tax-paying foreign residents [at restaurants] it will be difficult,” Kato told Al Jazeera.

“Segregation of the Japanese and non-Japanese type will bring unpleasant tension and discontent… We need to be very careful about this.”

Leaving a bad taste

While tourism industry experts believe Japan should capitalize on the increased purchasing power of incoming visitors, some are skeptical that two-tier pricing is the best way to do so.

Andres Zuleta, founder of Boutique Japan, a luxury travel company that offers personalized vacations, said that while he is “all for Japan finding ethical and creative ways to monetize the tourism boom,” companies that charge different prices based on nationality are likely to generate resentment.

“Discounted prices for locals might make sense, but having different prices on an English menu and a Japanese menu will certainly leave a bad taste – pardon the pun – in people’s mouths. The idea of ​​tiered pricing seems more likely to be palatable in [tourist] websites and things like that,” Zuleta told Al Jazeera.

Andrew William, founder of Kyoto-based tourism company An Design, said that while it is understandable that companies charge foreigners prices they would expect to pay at home when they book abroad, it is riskier to do so in Japan.

“A two-tiered price sign would look really bad,” William, whose tour company specializes in off-the-beaten-path tours of Kyoto’s ancient sites and spiritual gardens, told Al Jazeera.

“Also, will local residents have to show their ID wherever they go? Maybe that’s not so bad, but it seems strange.”

Still, some Japanese officials appear unfazed by foreigners’ perceptions.

Hideyasu Kiyomoto, the mayor of Himeji City, recently suggested that foreign tourists pay up to four times more than the standard admission fee to visit Himeji Castle, Japan’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura expressed his support for the idea, suggesting he could adopt a model for Osaka Castle.

The head of the Hokkaido Tourism Organization also called on businesses on Japan’s northernmost main island to set different prices for tourists and locals.

Among those who argue in favor of charging foreign tourists more, the logic varies from covering the costs of heritage conservation to training English-speaking staff.

Kato, a professor at Wakayama University, said owners need to be more specific and transparent about costs.

“Heritage conservation in itself should not be the reason to charge foreigners more,” she said.

“And language issues should not be the responsibility of individual companies or establishments. There should be government support for implementing multilingual interfaces and training English-speaking guides.”

Japanese authorities asking visitors to pay more than locals is not unprecedented.

Miyajima Island, a popular attraction off the coast of Hiroshima famous for its forests and the “floating” gate to Itsukushima Shrine, introduced a tourist tax in October 2023.

Since July, hikers wanting to climb Mount Fuji’s most popular trail have been required to pay an entrance fee of 2,000 yen ($12.99).

Since 2019, foreign travelers have also been charged 1,000 yen upon departure, which authorities said would be used to help improve tourist infrastructure such as Wi-Fi and multilingual support.

Kato said Japan has a lot to offer as a travel destination, but the country should only extract more money from visitors if the price is commensurate with the value of the experience.

“I don’t want to see a confrontational approach: charging more for everything and charging money to get into everywhere,” she said.

“Remember, tourism should always be a happy industry.”