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Inbound Tourist Discounts Ending in Japan As Locals Protest
It used to be you could get into some key cultural attractions in Japan as a tourist at a discount. Here’s why those days may be over.
It used to be that tourists could get in for a reduced rate — or even free — at some of Japan’s cultural sites. However, with the surge in overtourism, those days are ending. Prominent tourist destinations are slashing discounts for inbound visitors as local critics argue such systems are unfair.
No more foreigner privileges?
When ramen, Japan’s classic comfort food, tore above the price line of ¥1,000 (about $6.5) as the yen continued to drop, it put locals on edge.
Watching inbound tourists get free treatment pushed some off that edge into a ranting whirlpool. Now, locals and a higher-up official in Nara Prefecture are calling for an end to no-charge systems at public institutions for foreign visitors.
“It’s discrimination against Japanese people,” one social media user wrote.
Another suggested that “citizens should get in for free.”
