Overtourism in Japan, and how it hurts small businesses

Small businesses: lifestyle vs profit

• Many argue Japan’s small shops are “lifestyle businesses”: owners want community, routine, and pride of place, not maximized revenue.
• Tourism can flip a shop’s purpose from community hub to anonymous service line, which some owners experience as isolating or even devastating.
• Others, including hospitality workers elsewhere, say “take the money and raise prices,” viewing reluctance as irrational or culturally specific.

Tourist behavior and local resentment

• Frontline workers describe foreign tourists as often loud, drunk, entitled, and ignorant of local etiquette, making already low-margin hospitality work much worse.
• Some say the core issue is not customers per se but foreign customers who can’t behave or communicate, crowding out regulars and changing the vibe.
• Others push back that this can shade into xenophobia: “locals good, foreigners bad” is hard to separate from simple dislike of outsiders.

Social media and hotspot overload

• Commenters repeatedly blame TikTok/Instagram and review scores for funneling huge crowds into a tiny number of “viral” spots while equally good nearby places stay quiet.
• Similar patterns are described in Colorado, Austin, European beach towns, Florence, Niagara Falls, etc.
• Some note that overtourism often feels severe because tourists are highly concentrated in a few blocks or bus lines, even if the city overall is manageable.

Ethics, class, and the right to travel

• Debate over whether travel is “too cheap and easy”: some call for higher costs (fuel taxes, comfort mandates) to curb volume; others denounce this as elitist gatekeeping.
• A strong minority argues there may be no fully “ethical” way to be a tourist, given gentrification, housing pressures, and “new colonization” via digital nomads.
• Others reject this as misanthropic or unrealistic, and argue for spreading tourism to less-famous regions rather than shaming ordinary sightseeing.

Xenophobia, ‘no foreigners’, and cultural protection

• “No foreigners” signs, tattoo bans, and language-gated entries provoke heated discussion: are they about crime, communication burden, or naked discrimination?
• Several note these practices predate the current tourist boom and often target specific behaviors (all-you-can-drink abuse, yakuza tattoos).
• Some Westerners say they respect Japan wanting to stay more homogeneous; others point out that the same sentiment is condemned as racist in Europe/US.

Japan-specific factors

• Explanations for the surge: decades of deliberate “Cool Japan” cultural export; weak yen; and Japan’s distinct modernity that feels non-Western.
• Commenters note strong norms around “omotenashi” and rigid systems: many businesses fear serving guests they can’t satisfy “properly,” rather than simply hating foreigners.
• Tourism is seen by many Japanese operators as economically essential in a shrinking, aging country—but also as culturally corrosive if unmanaged.

Local responses and policy ideas

• Described defensive tactics: hidden “locals’ doors,” negative-review campaigns, punch-card “real menus,” payment methods that foreigners can’t easily use, back-channel booking for regulars.
• Proposals include: fines for bad tourists, redirecting attention via official social media, differential pricing or infrastructure for tourists vs locals, and aviation fuel taxes.
• Some insist Japan could simply regulate Mario Kart tours and similar nuisances more aggressively; if they don’t, it’s because they accept the tradeoff.

How big is the problem?

• Commenters disagree on scale: some say tourism in Japan is still modest compared to Paris/Rome and highly localized; others cite data showing Tokyo near the top of global city destinations.
• Several recount stark changes between pre‑COVID and recent trips, especially in Kyoto and parts of Tokyo, while noting that quiet, non-viral areas and museums remain.