Planet-ta-kun’s Observations of New Japan

Introducing a new series investigating the expenditure of inbound tourists Record high numbers of foreign visitors in 2015 and ‘spending spree’ being chosen as ‘buzzword of the year’ mean that foreign tourists’ spending habits have attracted attention. With the possibility of 20 million visitors a year coming into view, the government has started to set new goals and ‘inbound consumption’ has become an increasingly important theme for the consumer goods distribution industry.

In this column, our original company character ‘Planet-ta-kun’ will share some of the charms of Japan from the perspective of foreign tourists.
In this first issue, we’ll start by introducing some popular tourism trends.

Shirakawa-go is popular

It’s bustling with Western visitors on World Heritage Site tours in the summer and Asian visitors who come to see the snow in winter.

Anime and cosplay are popular

Anime, Japan’s currently super-popular culture. The quality of cosplayers from overseas is so good that it looks like they’ve come straight out of a 2D world.
I’m under the impression that French people in particular love anime.

People who go on pilgrimages

People are saying that the popularity (of Shikoku’s 88 temple pilgrimage) is rivaling that of Spain’s Santiago pilgrimage.

Koreans in Tsushima (Nagasaki Prefecture)

At only 49.5 km away, visitors from Korea are pouring in!?
It seems like they come for mountain climbing and to eat fresh sashimi.

Shopping sprees & eating sprees

The well-known ‘shopping sprees’ of Chinese visitors!!
It seems that rumors of this wave have spread all over Japan!!

Guesthouse boom

Staying overnight in a gender-separated shared room is normal. One night is usually about 3,000 yen. Being able to communicate with fellow travelers is one of the charms of guesthouses. The guesthouse boom has been going on for a few years now, so you can find them in most parts of the country.

The popular tourist spots for foreigners are different to those of Japanese people?

Many people say that Kanazawa is the ‘traditional town’ that they are most interested in visiting, after Kyoto.

You can have your fill of snow in Niseko (Hokkaido)

There’s a high likelihood that you can experience powder snow, so it’s a very popular place with people from Asia, Australia and North America! It’s our world-famous snow resort!

Beef in Kyoto!?

Why are many people coming to Kyoto to eat beef!? It seems like it has a good reputation as a place to eat cheap, delicious wagyu beef!?