Post by James (Jim) H.

Everyone says Japan has an overtourism problem. The numbers certainly suggest it. More than 40 million foreign visitors. Record tourism spending. Crowded streets in Kyoto. Packed buses. Endless photos of Shibuya Crossing and Fushimi Inari. But what if that isn't the whole story? While some destinations are struggling to cope with too many visitors, others are wondering where the tourists went. Taiwanese travelers now outspend Chinese visitors. Japanese are traveling overseas far less than they once did. Regional banks are becoming tour operators. "Hidden Japan" is being carefully packaged as a premium product. And tourism, despite the headlines, isn't going to solve Japan's long-term economic challenges. The biggest surprise wasn't discovering that the headlines were wrong. It was realizing they were only describing one small part of a much larger, far more complicated picture. Japan doesn't have a single tourism story anymore. It has many, and they're no longer moving in the same direction. My latest article explores the contradictions behind one of the world's most celebrated tourism booms and asks whether we've been looking at Japan through a narrow filter. What has been your experience? Has Japan felt more crowded than ever, or have you found places that seem untouched by the tourism boom? Or both? Neither? #Japan #Tourism #Overtourism #Travel #Asia #JapaneseCulture #Economics #RegionalDevelopment #PublicPolicy #GlobalBusiness