japan tourism as of gdp

Japan Tourism Statistics 日本の観光統計データ

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Visitor Arrivals

Facts on Trips to Japan

Visits to Regions of Japan

Travel Spending

Foreigners Entries

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Number of Foreign Visitors

Find Out About Overseas Travels for Japanese

Japanese Overseas Travelers

Japanese Visitors

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Status of International Conferences Held by Year

Status of International Conferences Held by Month

Status of International Conferences Held by Field

Status of International Conferences Held by Scale

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How many travelers visit japan.

"Visitor Arrivals" provides figures trend of foreign nationals traveling to Japan by year, month and the purpose of visit. A breakdown by country/area is provided, along with a feature that allows comparing the number of travelers between two designated countries.

Traveling to Japan: Visitor Arrivals

Which regions of Japan do foreign visitors travel to?

"Ranking of Visit Rates by Japanese Prefecture" shows visit rates of foreign travelers by prefecture. "Number of Total Lodgers by Prefecture" provide data on where foreign travelers stay overnight.

Traveling to Japan: Ranking of Visit Rates by Japanese Prefecture, Number of Total Lodgers by Prefecture

What do foreign visitors buy in Japan?

"Consumption During Travel" shows spending by foreign visitors in Japan by category, such as accommodation, transport, cuisine, and leisure. Spending by country/area is also available.

Traveling to Japan: Consumption During Travel

How many overseas travelers are there?

"Japanese Overseas Travelers" provides figures of Japanese nationals traveling abroad. Destination information can be compared yearly and monthly.

Overseas Travel by Japanese

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Japanese Economic Trend

Japan economic activity covering production, distribution, consumption and trade of goods and services including GDP Growth Rate and Exchange Rate.

• The Japanese government offered the assessment in its Monthly Economic Report for March 2024 that "The Japanese economy is recovering at a moderate pace, although it recently appears to be pausing in part. Concerning short-term prospects, the economy is expected to continue recovering at a moderate pace with the improving employment and income situation, supported by the effects of the policies. However, slowing down of overseas economies is downside risk of the Japanese economy, including the effects of global monetary tightening and the concern about the prospect of the Chinese economy. Also, full attention should be given to price increases, the situation in the Middle East and fluctuations in the financial and capital markets. In addition, full attention should be given to the economic impact of the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake.

GDP Growth Rate 08 March 2024

Real GDP Growth

QOQ   +0.7 Points

Annualized Rate

QOQ   +2.9points

3.1 Gross Domestic Product: Quarter on Quarter (Real/Seasonally Adjusted)

Source : Cabinet Office "National Economic Accounting"

Unemployment Rate 10 April 2024

Unemployment Rate

MOM   +0.2 Points

Unemployment

1.77 million

MOM   +14 million

3.2 Unemployment Rate

Source : Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications "Labour Force Survey" *Unemployed rate are seasonally adjusted series and unemployed person are original series.

Exchange Rate 10 April 2024

3.3 japanese yen exchange rate (monthly-average).

Mar 2024 (Monthly-Average)

USD/JPY ＝ 149.67

Source : Mitsubishi UFJ Research & Consulting and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ "Exchange Quotations"

EUR/JPY ＝ 162.74

CNY/JPY ＝ 20.74

100KRW/JPY ＝ 11.26

CPI 10 April 2024

MOM   +0.0 Points

3.4 Consumer Price Index

Source : Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications index, base year: 2020

Index related to consuming activities 10 April 2024

3.5 consumption expenditure per household　 annual.

Source : Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications "Family Income and Expenditure Survey" *Yearly Average of Monthly Income and Expenditure per Household - Workers' households containing over 2 adults (2000～2016) *The data is including agricultural, forestry and fisheries households.

3.6 Consumption expenditures on Travel & Communication　 Annual

3.7 sales of department stores (nationwide).

Source : Japan Department Stores Association

3.8 Wholesale Price of Unleaded Gasoline by Month (National Average)

Source : Agency for Natural Resources and Energy Wholesale price for major oil companies' gas station (Without Consumption Tax)

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Japan's February GDP grows 1.8% on tourism recovery: JCER

Exports of goods and services, private consumption lead economy

TOKYO -- Japan's gross domestic product grew 1.8% in February from the previous month on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to estimates form the Japan Center for Economic Research, expanding for the first time in three months as inbound tourism gets back on track.

Based on the average figures for the first two months of 2023, the think tank now expects an annualized 3.0% contraction for the January-March quarter from the October-December period.

Thai, Malaysian outlooks improve on tourism, China recovery: JCER

Japan gdp suffers steepest decline in 5 months, 0.6%, jcer says, japan gdp up 0.1% in december despite weak exports: jcer, japan gdp shrinks 0.2% in november, hit by inflation: jcer, taiwan to surpass japan in gdp per capita this year: jcer, latest on economy, tokyo inflation slows for 2nd straight month, falls under boj goal, u.s. economy grows 1.6% in q1, slowing more than expected, south korea gdp grows 1.3% in first quarter, beating estimates, sponsored content, about sponsored content this content was commissioned by nikkei's global business bureau..

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Japan Travel & Tourism Could Approach Pre-Pandemic Levels Next Year

Sector will boost national economic recovery

More than 680,000 jobs could be created over the next 10 years

London, UK: The World Travel & Tourism Council ( WTTC ) has revealed the Travel & Tourism sector in Japan will provide a significant boost to the nation’s economic recovery next year, with its GDP contribution set to reach near pre-pandemic levels.

The forecast from WTTC’s Economic Impact Report (EIR) shows the sector’s contribution to Japan’s GDP could reach nearly ¥40 trillion by the end of 2023, just 2.2% below 2019 levels.

The data also reveals employment will surpass pre-pandemic levels, recovering more than 23,000 jobs, to reach more than 5.8 million by the end of the year.

Over the next decade, Travel & Tourism’s GDP is expected to grow at an average of 2.6% annually, more than three times the 0.7% growth rate for the country’s overall economy, to reach more than ¥46.7 trillion (7.8% of the total economy).

The forecast also reveals the sector is expected to create nearly 683,000 jobs over the next decade, averaging more than 68,000 new jobs every year, to reach more than 6.2 million employed by the end of 2032.

By the end of this year, the report shows the sector’s contribution to GDP is expected to grow a staggering 60% to more than ¥36.2 trillion, amounting to 6.5% of the total economic GDP.

While employment levels in the sector are expected to grow at a slower rate (1.9%), by the end of this year, more than  5.6 million will work in the sector.

Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO, said: “After the pain suffered by Japan’s Travel & Tourism, the outlook for the future is much brighter.

“Following two years of restrictions to mobility, which damaged the sector, there are reasons for optimism as the sector is finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

“But there is still work to be done. Removing testing and facilitating international travel will further boost the sector’s growth and fast-track the recovery.”

Before the pandemic, Japan’s Travel & Tourism sector’s contribution to GDP was 7.3% (¥40.8 trillion) in 2019, falling to just 3.5% (¥18.4 trillion) in 2020, which represented a shocking 54.8% loss.

The sector also supported 5.8 million jobs in 2019, falling to just below 5.3 million in 2020, when the pandemic devastated the sector.

The global tourism body’s latest EIR report also reveals that 2021 saw the beginning of the recovery for Japan’s Travel & Tourism sector.

Last year, its contribution to GDP climbed 22.9% year on year, to reach ¥22.7 trillion.

The sector also saw a recovery of more than 210,000 Travel & Tourism jobs, representing a positive rise of 4% to reach 5.5 million.

The sector’s contribution to the economy and employment could have been higher if it weren’t for the impact of the Omicron variant, which led to the recovery faltering around the world, with many countries reinstating severe travel restrictions.

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Saudi Arabia’s Travel & Tourism to Have Fastest Growth in the Middle East Over the Next Decade

South Korea’s Travel & Tourism Expected to Create Nearly Half a Million Jobs Within the Next Decade

Japan's hospitality and tourism industry is recovering, but there are challenges

Japan's readiness to receive tourists is not keeping pace with the speed of the recovery of visitor numbers. Image:  Unsplash/Sayaka Ganz

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Naoko tochibayashi.

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• Japan's hospitality and tourism sector is recovering in earnest after reopening its border to foreign visitors and lifting mask rules after COVID-19.
• As a result, March saw visitor numbers reach nearly 2 million, equivalent to about two-thirds of tourist figures for the same month in 2019.
• Japan will need to adapt to avoid 'overtourism' and also address post-pandemic labour shortages in both hospitality and tourism.

The Japanese hospitality and tourism industry is beginning to recover in earnest after being badly hit by COVID-19.

In October 2022, Japan lifted the ceiling on the number of foreign tourists entering the country as well as the ban on the entry of individual foreign travellers, thereby significantly easing its pandemic border control measures. Furthermore, as of March this year, the rule to wear masks, both indoors and outdoors, is now left to individual discretion.

This was a tailwind, and the number of visitors to Japan in the same month quickly recovered to 1,827,500 – a figure is equivalent to 66% of the pre-pandemic March 2019 tally and 27.5 times higher than in March 2022.

By country/region, the largest number of visitors to Japan in March came from South Korea with 466,800 – or 79.7% of the figure for March 2019; followed by Taiwan with 278,900; the United States with 203,000, and Hong Kong with 144,900. In addition, since Japan eased travel restrictions from China on March 1, the number of travellers from the country almost doubled to 75,000 in February.

Takahide Kiuchi, Executive Economist at Nomura Research Institute, forecasts that "inbound demand for the year 2023 will be JPY 4,958 billion (about $36.7 billion), which could quickly surpass the JPY 4,813.5 billion (about $35.7 billion) inbound demand in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic”.

However, while Japan's economy is being revitalized in earnest by inbound consumption – boosted in part by the record low yen, which makes Japan an attractive destination for foreign tourists – the country is facing a noticeable challenge as its readiness to receive tourists is not keeping pace with the speed of the recovery in visitor numbers.

Severe labour shortages in hospitality

The hospitality and restaurant industries are in a particularly tight spot, unable to cope with the resurgence of inbound tourism.

According to a January survey released by Teikoku Databank, the percentage of companies feeling a labour shortage (non-permanent employees) amounted to 81.8% for inns and hotels and 80.4% for restaurants. Of all sectors, these two industries in particular are experiencing an outstanding labour shortage, with the percentage for inns/hotels at an all-time high.

Many in the hospitality and restaurant sectors have been forced to reduce their workforce and curtail new hiring due to closures, shorter hours and poor performance caused by the spread of COVID-19, and many employees have moved on to other jobs. The fact it is not easy to bring back staff once they have left the industry is the main reason for the serious labour shortage.

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Japanese industry has been trying to solve labour shortages by accepting foreign workers. The tourism sector has relied heavily on part-time jobs for foreign students. According to data from the Japan Student Services Organization in 2021, the hospitality and restaurant industries accounted for nearly 40% of all part-time jobs for foreign students. However, foreign student part-time workers have completely disappeared since the pandemic.

Furthermore, the depreciation of the yen, which has been progressing since the second half of last year, has significantly lowered wages in Japan from the perspective of other countries. Despite overcoming the COVID-19 crisis and embarking on a path of economic recovery, Japan is no longer attractive as a country to go to as a migrant worker, and it is no longer possible to expect to attract foreign staff .

In a bid to address the problem in hospitality, hotel operations are being reformed by using digital technology to increase efficiency. JTB, a major Japanese travel agency, has developed a platform that links its core system with digital tools such as ATMs to save labour in check-out and other operations, and is now offering the system to hotels.

Tokyu Hotels, which operates 45 hotels in Japan, has also introduced NEC's Smart Hospitality Service , which enables automatic check-in using facial recognition and QR codes, at 39 of its hotels nationwide. Users can check in by simply holding up their face to a tablet terminal at the front desk if they have registered their guest information and photo in advance – making operations more efficient.

Countermeasures against ‘overtourism’

Overtourism has long been a challenge for the Japanese travel industry, and local residents in key tourist areas have suffered from issues including crowding, traffic congestion, rubbish and noise. The ability to diversify the times and areas visited by tourists is key to preventing overtourism, while allowing the tourism industry to gain momentum for a resurgence.

According to a Japan Tourism Agency survey, most people travel on holidays, including major national holidays, and only 16.5% of travel volume occurs on weekdays , which account for 70% of the annual number of days.

As such, the government is working to diversify travel demand by increasing the amount of coupons granted for weekday travel in its nationwide travel support programme. Now that the spread of teleworking has made it feasible to combine work and travel on weekdays, the creation of new incentives, such as work holidays, could also help to balance out travel demand.

Diversification of tourist destinations is another important issue. Pre-pandemic, the occupancy rate of accommodation facilities in Osaka, Kyoto and Fukuoka – where tourists are concentrated – rose to nearly 80%, and the negative effects of overtourism were being called out.

However, in many prefectures located along the typical tourist routes for foreign visitors, the occupancy rate of accommodation facilities was less than 50%, resulting in regional differences. In the future, it will be important to bridge these regional differences by promoting Japan's diverse destinations, and to increase the number of people visiting non-representative tourist destinations by attracting repeat visitors.

Travel & Tourism Development Index 2021: Rebuilding for a Sustainable and Resilient Future

Looking to a new future for japan tourism.

The World Economic Forum’s Travel & Tourism Development Index 2021: Rebuilding for a Sustainable and Resilient Future ranked Japan first in the development index ranking due to the speed with which the travel and tourism industry has recovered from the devastation caused by the pandemic.

Assuming that the travel and tourism industry will play an important role in global economic and social development, the report emphasizes that investment in the drivers of the industry’s development will be crucial in the future.

Meanwhile, Atsushi Takahashi of JR East Japan Planning Inc sounded an alarm bell on the past Japanese approach to tourism and instead urged a new way of thinking. “We have long made decisions based on intuition, experience and assumptions. We have been making decisions for a long time without looking at data,” he said.

“The original marketing is to choose the best solution at the time from multiple hypotheses that emerge depending on how the data is viewed and interpreted. However, in the field of tourism, I feel that this is still too shallow.”

His observations stress his belief that data-based initiatives in Japan's tourism industry are also essential to solving issues facing the sector today, as well to providing new forms of tourism services altogether.

Pre-pandemic, China ranked first in the number of foreign visitors to Japan by nationality and region, accounting for a 25.6% share . Currently, there are restrictions on issuing tourist visas to Chinese nationals, but if these restrictions are lifted in the future, the number of visitors from China is expected to increase rapidly.

In addition, the Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai – which will be held for six months and centre around the theme of 'Designing Future Society for Our Lives' – is expected to attract 3.5 million foreign tourists.

With these expected surges in visitor numbers, the question will be how Japan can solve the problems facing hospitality and tourism, while also creating and providing services that place value on new forms of tourism.

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World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

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Japan: International tourism revenue, percent of GDP

Japan: international tourism revenue, percent of gdp, 1995 - 2020:.

Japan's Tourism Industry Taking Off 

Tourism is a growing industry in Japan, and it has the potential to contribute meaningfully to economic growth over the next decade as the country deregulates the industry, opens casinos, and welcomes foreign visitors to the Olympic Games in 2020.

Key Takeaways

• Tourism has the potential to be a positive economic influence in Japan
• The country is set to meet the government’s target of 40 million tourists by 2020
• The 2020 Olympics in Tokyo provide an opportunity for Japan to expand its tourist base beyond Asia

A decade ago, few tourists visited Japan in comparison with other international destinations. However, over the past five years, the number of tourists has increased by over 24% annually, and the number is expected to continue to rise. With the average tourist spending $1,321 in Q2 2018, tourism in total currently equates to approximately 0.8% of Japan’s gross domestic product (GDP), although the broader impact is estimated to equal about 2.2% of GDP. We believe tourism has the potential for robust growth, and as it expands, its impact on overall economic growth could be significant.

Promoting Tourism

The government has made tourism an important part of its goal to reach 600 trillion yen ($5 trillion) in nominal GDP by 2020. Over the last couple of years, the government has enacted a series of policy changes aimed at turning Japan into a “tourism-oriented country,” which include the relaxation of visa requirements and an increase in the number of low-cost air carrier routes. In 2018, a record 31 million tourists visited Japan, an 8% increase over 2017. 1 Visitors from Asian countries continue to dominate, with tourists from China, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Thailand accounting for 75% of total visits in November 2018.

Growth Potential

We believe tourism in Japan has ample room to grow, as the total number of visitors remains small compared to many other countries. For example, in France, the world’s top tourist destination with 87 million foreign tourists in 2017, the tourism industry accounted for 9% of GDP in 2017. Tokyo was ranked 9th in terms of international visitor spending in 2017. However, total expenditures of almost $12 billion were still substantially lower than the $17 billion tourists spent in London or Singapore.

Casino resorts could further boost tourism growth. In December 2016, the Japanese parliament approved a bill to legalize casino gambling, and in July 2018 authorized the construction of three resort casinos. The first is likely to open in 2025, and total gaming revenue from all three is expected to top $12 billion. The Asia-Pacific region has become the largest casino gambling market, with revenue in Macau reaching nearly $38 billion in 2018. 3 By comparison, gaming revenue in Las Vegas is expected to be about $6 billion in 2018.

2020 Olympic Games

The 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo are likely to be a big draw for tourists to Japan. In preparation for the games, it is estimated that Japan will spend approximately 6 trillion yen ($53 billion) on transportation infrastructure, including expanding ports, increasing airport capacity, and strengthening transportation hubs. 4

The 2020 Games will provide an opportunity to showcase Japan’s technological know-how. Plans include the creation of an Olympic robot village to help guests with directions, transportation, and translation. Japan plans to impress athletes and tourists with autonomous taxis, 5G wireless technology, and superspeed magnetic levitation trains and hopes to draw visitors from all over the world, including the U.S. and Europe. 5

An Opportunity to Benefit from Japan’s Growth

Tourism is one of many areas contributing to the recovery of Japan’s economy. For investors seeking exposure to Japan’s potential growth, consider the Hennessy Japan Fund (HJPNX/HJPIX) and the Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund (HJPSX/HJSIX), both offering “best ideas” portfolios. The Japan Fund is comprised of globally oriented mid- to large-cap companies. The Japan Small Cap Fund invests in smaller-cap, more domestically focused companies.

Both Funds are sub-advised by Tokyo-based SPARX Asset Management. As one of the largest and most experienced independent Asia-based asset management specialists, SPARX’s “feet on the street” research team provides a significant and crucial advantage for shareholders.

• In this article:
• Japan Small Cap Fund

1. Japan National Tourism Organization.

2. International tourism, number of arrivals, The World Bank.

3. Bloomberg

4. Cooper, Chris and Matsuda, Kiyotaka. “Abe Plans $61 Billion Infrastructure Spending for Japan Revival,” Bloomberg.com, August 2, 2016.

5. Futurism.com.

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Can inbound tourism fuel Japan’s economic growth?

Japan’s inbound tourism grew by 33 percent a year from 2011 to 2015—among the fastest rates in the world. Yet tourism still represents just 0.5 percent of the country’s GDP, significantly lower than for popular Asian destinations such as Thailand (10.4 percent) and developed countries such as France (2.4 percent) and the United States (1.3 percent). The biggest problems? Too few non-Asian international visitors; too many tourists concentrating on the major cities of Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo; and significant capacity constraints with regard to accommodation and transportation.

Japan’s leaders are aware of the problem, as well as the opportunity. Recognizing that inbound tourism could be a powerful economic engine, they have set an aspirational target to double annual inbound tourism to 40.0 million visitors in 2020, from 19.7 million in 2015, increasing total inbound-tourism revenue to ¥8.0 trillion ($79.0 billion), from ¥3.5 trillion, over the same period. Indeed, we believe the country’s tourism industry is at an inflection point where an effective strategy to attract international tourists could have an outsize impact for years to come. Our new report, The future of Japan’s tourism: Path for sustainable growth towards 2020 (PDF–2.08MB), investigates the challenges and potential impact of several initiatives that address obstacles to realizing the country’s inbound-tourism goals.

Tackling three major challenges

Although Japan is the world’s third-largest economy—trailing only the United States and China—it remains a mystery to many tourists. While hosting the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games will provide a global platform to showcase its people, culture, and landmarks, action is required now. For the tourism industry to overcome barriers and achieve its target of doubling annual inbound tourism by 2020, the country’s public and private sectors must come together to address three primary issues:

• The lack of non-Asian visitors. International travelers are attracted to destinations for many reasons, including iconic sites, proximity, and familiarity. Yet Japan has a significant imbalance in its portfolio of visitors: non-Asian visitors accounted for just 16 percent of international tourists to Japan in 2015. The country struggles to convert interest from Western tourists into actual visits, especially when compared with visitors from other Asian nations (exhibit). That may be partly because Western visitors simply aren’t sure what they can see in Japan, even though they profess interest in the country’s major tourism assets once informed about them.
• Skewed regional distribution. Three prefectures—Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo—dominate visitor itineraries, accounting for 48 percent of tourist stays. These three major cities account for 60 percent of inbound-tourism expenditures, despite comprising only 28 percent of the Japan’s GDP. This suggests a sizable opportunity for the country’s other regions.
• Capacity constraints. Accommodations and infrastructure in major Japanese cities are already stretched. In fact, demand simulations for 2020 indicate the country may face an accommodation shortage of up to 50 percent in Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo, as well as an air-capacity overflow of up to 30 percent for Tokyo’s Haneda and Narita airports.

Would you like to learn more about our Travel, Logistics & Transport Infrastructure Practice ?

Correcting Japan’s visitor-portfolio imbalance and skewed regional distribution requires addressing several root causes, including a perception of high cost, low awareness of tourism assets, and a limited service model in local regions. The common challenge is that cooperation between the public and private sectors in many areas—for example, aggregating tourism data and providing an end-to-end experience—is limited, if not nonexistent.

To succeed in meeting the country’s goals for inbound tourism, a public–private partnership (PPP) should be established, modeled on global best practices. Once formed, the PPP should pursue a road map built around five levers:

• Strengthen the Japanese destination-management-organization (DMO) model. Japan’s 80 DMO candidates can be expanded to deliver even greater impact, strengthening the service model in local regions.
• Build a platform to support tourists’ end-to-end customer experience. An integrated online data platform could serve as a mechanism to capture and analyze information about tourists, including purchasing behaviors and preferences. These data could be used to offer a rich, personalized customer experience.
• Support hotels and sightseeing spots in building inbound-tourism capabilities. Many hotels and tourism assets would benefit greatly from support by related businesses and government agencies to address issues such as the language barrier and inefficient purchase processes.
• Embed foreign visitors’ viewpoints in marketing and promotion. Members of the PPP, including the Japan National Tourism Organization and Japan Tourism Agency—which both employ nearly 100 percent Japanese staff—should ensure the viewpoints of tourists are sought out when designing and implementing marketing and promotions.
• Enhance online promotion to make tourists ambassadors. Japan can ensure its online portal showcases its tourism assets as effectively as possible and offers opportunities for the collection and dissemination of word-of-mouth praise.

By bringing stakeholders together through a public–private partnership, Japan can make progress in increasing its attractiveness to many different traveler segments while also addressing the underlying obstacles to growth in inbound tourism. The conditions and timing are right to launch the country into the top tier of tourism-oriented destinations—it just needs coordinated, strategic action.

How a private-sector transformation could revive Japan

Download the full report on which this article is based, The future of Japan’s tourism: Path for sustainable growth towards 2020 (PDF–2.08MB).

André Andonian is a senior partner in McKinsey’s Tokyo office , where Ryo Ishida is a consultant, Tasuku Kuwabara , is a partner, and Naomi Yamakawa is an associate partner.

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Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’

Japan is gearing up to attract affluent tourists to lesser-known destinations, offering opportunities for an authentic experience of culture, craftsmanship and nature as a record number of foreign travelers come to the country.

The Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) aims to increase the number of "luxury tourists" — defined as those who spend more than ¥1 million per person during their stay.

In 2019, this demographic comprised just 1% of overall visitors but they contributed to 14% of total spending .

“From the perspective of increasing consumption in rural regions, we want to strategically attract visitors by refining the content we offer and building networks through which we can promote businesses,” said JNTO director Rieko Nakayama.

Added Ryo Ito, a JNTO official in charge of the promotion of luxury tourism, “These luxury tourists tend to have high levels of curiosity and are interested in authentic experiences that are unique to specific areas, which goes hand in hand with (our goal of) promoting rural tourism."

“However, there are still some issues that need to be addressed in attracting visitors to these rural areas.”

While there is a lot of hidden potential in rural areas, they need support in order to make them marketable and accessible to tourists, as well as profitable for locals, particularly since businesses in these regions tend to be short on staff.

JNTO has identified four areas in which support is needed:

• marketability: content unique to the area needs to be refined in ways that would help it attract high-end tourists.
• accommodation: luxury hotels need to be built where there is a shortage.
• human resources: tour guides and hospitality workers need to be hired ahead of the arrival of tourists.
• connections: networks need to be established with overseas companies to get information about local attractions out to prospective tourists.

Even though many rural areas want to attract more high-end tourists, most of them don’t have sufficient means or the right infrastructure to do so.

Being aware of the problems that such rural areas face, the government began efforts to tackle these issues by first designating 11 model tourism destinations across the nation last year, including the Hokuriku region and the southern islands of Okinawa and Amami.

In February, JNTO invited 32 foreign travel companies that cater to affluent tourists to meet with 40 domestic luxury hotels and destination management companies to showcase what Japan's towns and villages can offer.

Feedback from the foreign travel companies who were taken on a familiarization trip to some of the areas within the 11 destinations — from Kanazawa and Fukui prefectures to the Setouchi inland sea area — showed keen interest.

The most popular activities were ones that included interaction with resident professionals such as traditional craftsmen in the Hokuriku area, demonstrating that local connections may just be the key selling point for Japan's luxury tourism push.

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Japan is swamped with tourists. Now visitors are going off the beaten track

Tour operators are touting Japan’s less explored regions as surging visitor numbers put strain on popular sites.

Tokyo, Japan – When Paul Christie started conducting tours on Japan’s Nakasendo, an old trade route along the post towns of Nagano Prefecture’s Kiso Valley, few travellers frequented the trail.

Christie, who has lived on and off in Japan since the late 1980s, viewed the route as a great opportunity for tourists to see a more authentic side of Japan, allowing them to explore the country’s history, nature and geography on foot.

Keep reading

India hosts g20 tourism meet in kashmir under heavy security, saudi arabia eyes aviation expansion to get in on crucial tourism market, are the risks involved in sea and space tourism too high, ‘without rules we cannot live’: greece seeks ways to tackle ‘overtourism’.

Since taking over as CEO of tour operator Walk Japan in 2002, Christie has been on a mission to spread tourists more evenly across the archipelago.

“We’ve been doing this for 20 years and we tend to go to places that are not touristy, so we’re teasing out the interesting parts of Japan,” the United Kingdom native told Al Jazeera.

“This addresses the problems Japan is experiencing with ‘overtourism’.”

“Overtourism” was a common talking point in Japan’s tourism industry before the COVID-19 pandemic.

After eight consecutive years of inbound growth, Japan received a record 32 million visitors in 2019.

But the rising tide did not raise all boats. Most travellers flocked to the Golden Route, running from Tokyo through the Osaka-Kyoto-Kobe conurbation, putting historical districts, Shinto shrines, Buddhist temples and popular museums under strain.

Since Japan lifted its pandemic-era border restrictions in October last year, concerns about unsustainable tourism have returned.

Visitors have rushed back in droves: 2.3 million foreign tourists arrived in July, the highest figure for any month since 2019.

China’s decision last month to lift its three-year ban on group tours to Japan is expected to result in a further spike in arrivals.

In 2019, 9.2 million Chinese tourists travelled to Japan, accounting for nearly one-third of all visitors, spending 1.8 trillion yen ($12.2bn) in the process.

“Our head office is located in the centre of Kyoto and we feel there are as many tourists as before COVID,” Hiroshi Kawaguchi, the general manager at tour operator Oku Japan, told Al Jazeera.

“This is a similar situation where major sightseeing spots are overcrowded and public buses are lining up.”

Though Kawaguchi says his company’s vision is not focused on alleviating overtourism, Oku Japan’s business model is attuned to such concerns.

“The main part of our itineraries are off the beaten track,” Kawaguchi told Al Jazeera.

“More importantly, every tour we offer includes the element of community interactions… We call these experiences fureai, and this is particularly important not only for the enjoyment of clients but also the local community.”

Tour operators focused on less-explored regions also believe in the power of tourism to have a positive impact on rural communities and spur chiho-sosei, or regional revitalisation.

In 2007, Walk Japan launched the Community Project to reinvigorate two neighbouring valleys on the Kunisaki Peninsula, where the company is based.

Alongside conducting group tours in the region, Walk Japan carries out development projects, from helping local farmers cultivate rice and shiitake mushrooms, to providing English education for schoolchildren and refurbishing old buildings.

Revitalisation is “part of the company DNA,” Christie said.

“We want to provide an example of what’s possible and perhaps inspire others.”

As Japan’s population greys, many small villages are on the brink of extinction. For such communities, tourism can be a welcome and much-needed rejuvenating force.

“With the right support, some communities genuinely want [tourists] to experience their hospitality and their local lifestyles and find out about their region, as long as they aren’t overwhelmed by visitors and the quality of life isn’t degraded,” Alex Bradshaw, founder and chief consultant at travel and tourism consultancy Gotoku, told Al Jazeera.

“Even if a village doesn’t survive into the future, the fact that it’s been remembered by somebody is incredibly powerful; that people lived here and they had this lifestyle and we shared a little time together. That kind of human interaction is very important.”

Overtourism is not restricted to Japan’s urban areas.

Rural World Heritage sites, subtropical islands, popular hiking trails and national parks have also been negatively affected.

Fuji-Hakone-Izu, for example, receives nearly half of all national park visitors in Japan, owing to its proximity to Tokyo and as the site of Mount Fuji.

Michelle Lyons, founder of Point North, a specialist branding firm supporting businesses passionate about Japanese culture, is working on a campaign to spread tourism – and its economic benefits – more equitably among Japan’s 34 national parks.

“I wanted to find a way to promote all the parks as though it’s a network of destinations that are all equal to each other,” Lyons told Al Jazeera.

“And by presenting them in this way I’m hoping the more popular parks will help raise the profile of the less popular parks.”

Lyons is developing collectable pins and patches for each park and a trading card game. She wants these collectable souvenirs to showcase the individual merits of each park and serve as educational tools.

“The management of the parks is really fragmented, so it’s difficult for them to coordinate their efforts… There needs to be a series of different solutions that creates value for the unique groups involved; a blanket approach isn’t going to work,” she said.

“In terms of increasing expenditure in the parks, gift shops could play a big part in that if they’re more strategic with what they’re selling, and think about what tourists actually want and find appealing.”

Stereotypical images

It’s a common refrain in the industry that Japan does not understand how to market itself to foreign travellers but Bradshaw thinks Western media is also at fault for presenting stereotypical images of the country.

“I see how Japan is presented and I’m kind of confused by it. I just wonder what part of Japan that is, because they do rely on the kitsch, the odd side of it, or culture tropes… It’s all maid cafés, geisha, tea ceremonies and ninja,” he said.

“It would be my hope that people would find a deeper side of Japan. But I understand why that is difficult for the tourism industry as well. When you’ve got to prioritise what sells as opposed to what’s authentic and necessarily good for regional communities.”

Some areas have implemented initiatives to specifically tackle overcrowding.

Kyoto, known as Japan’s cultural capital, is set to abolish its One-Day Bus Pass for tourists, sales of which will cease in October.

Iriomote, widely feted as the most beautiful of the Ryukyu Islands, has limited the number of daily visitors to 1,200.

In Yamanashi Prefecture, the local government has considered restricting the number of hikers on Mt Fuji’s Yoshida trail if it becomes too congested.

Last month, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced that the government would devise nationwide countermeasures to mitigate overtourism this autumn.

Kumi Kato, a tourism professor at Wakayama and Musashino universities, said the government has made moves in the right direction – such as organising cross-ministry meetings on spreading the benefits of tourism – but there is much work to be done.

“Destination wellbeing should be the goal and benchmarking concept,” Kato told Al Jazeera.

“Promoting the night and early morning economy and secondary destinations will disperse tourism into regional areas but that alone cannot lead to successful regional tourism.”

“It’s critical that the target should be clearly set… high-end tourists, or tourists with wealth, are often talked about, but it should not be misunderstood that only wealthy tourists are valuable,” Kato added.

“Value should be added to high-quality products and authentic experiences [which will] raise visitor spending rather than increase numbers. The government does set a target stay – number of days – and spending per visitor, but strategically ‘what kind of tourists’ should be clearer.”

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• Entertainment

Japan's ANA enjoys record earnings on robust tourism growth

April 26, 2024 (Mainichi Japan)

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- ANA Holdings Inc. said Friday its net profit rose 75.6 percent to a record 157.10 billion yen ($1.0 billion) in the business year ended March, driven by global tourism growth after the coronavirus pandemic.

Sales for the year climbed 20.4 percent to 2.06 trillion yen as demand for both international and domestic flights grew, the parent of All Nippon Airways said.

Revenue from its international passenger services rose 68.0 percent to a record 728.1 billion yen, surpassing that from its domestic flights for the first time thanks to robust inbound travel demand, ANA said.

Domestic passenger service revenue went up 21.8 percent to 644.9 billion yen as tourism demand recovered after the pandemic-related restrictions were fully removed last spring, the airline said.

"Our international operations are now our biggest revenue sources," ANA President Koji Shibata said at a press conference.

The company beat its earnings forecast made in January when it projected 130 billion yen in net profit and 2.03 trillion yen in sales.

The recent weakness of the yen has also helped attract foreign tourists to Japan. The number of foreign visitors to Japan rose to over 3.08 million in March, exceeding 3 million for the first time, according to government data.

For the current year ending March next year, the company provided a conservative forecast due to intensifying competition, expecting its net profit to fall 30.0 percent to 110 billion yen.

ANA also cited increased investment in human resources development for the expected profit decline, while projecting a 6.5 percent rise in sales to 2.19 trillion yen.

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Analysis: Japan’s Big Bet on Interest Rates May Not Pay Off

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Japan’s Big Bet on Interest Rates May Not Pay Off

A vote of confidence in the future may be undercut by a lukewarm economy..

Japan’s central bank, the Bank of Japan (BOJ), made global headlines in March with a bet that the deflation-ridden economy had finally turned a corner. The question now is whether the economy will do its part.

Bolstered by a stronger economy and steady wage growth, the BOJ drew a curtain on one of the longest-running monetary policy experiments in history, ending 11 years of an unconventional monetary easing that was aimed at reversing seemingly intractable deflationary pressures .

BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda announced the changes following a two-day meeting of the policy board on March 18-19. The central bank not only ended its negative interest rate policy that set short-term rates below zero but also terminated its buying of stock funds and its yield curve management program.

Together, these constituted the “bazooka” put in place by Ueda’s predecessor, the eternally optimistic Haruhiko Kuroda, who came into office in 2013. Kuroda had a bold plan to create a low but sustainable inflation rate, vowing to succeed where prior governors had failed since the mid-1990s, when prices and wages seemed to enter a time warp. His plan was to create 2 percent inflation in two years by doubling the bank’s monetary base.

Reality was a bit different. The 2 percent target now seems in place (although it may turn out to be closer to 1 percent), but it took more than a decade and saw the balance sheet balloon 4.5 times over the period to a record 760 trillion yen ($4.9 trillion)—a figure that is larger than Japan’s total annual economic output.

As flashy as the news was, the change was not that great. The BOJ will now target the interest rate on the benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond at 0-0.5 percent, a move best described as a “normalization” rather than a real monetary tightening. It’s usually overheating that prompts central banks to raise rates, but the Japanese economy is warm at best. Growth continues to be modest by global standards, and the economy narrowly avoided falling into a recession in the final three months of 2023.

Yet the policy change was significant in signaling that a global rise in input prices had been succeeding in creating inflation where years of monetary policy easing had largely failed. The most positive aspect was the recognition that wage growth, which had largely flatlined in the past 30 years, was now showing signs of life. With the multitude of economic shocks from the COVID-19 era, the closely watched “spring offensive” for union wage negotiations went up 3.6 percent in 2023, but this failed to create much good cheer, given that real wages continued their two-year losing streak with a 2.5 percent fall in 2023, the biggest drop since 1990.

This not only hit people’s pocketbooks but also helped drive down the approval ratings for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, a generally likable figure whose primary failure has been to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It also reminded policymakers who had for years decried the evils of a deflationary economy that for the average person it wasn’t all that bad. Even though wages were stagnant, prices fell steadily if slowly from their 1990 bubble economy peak, meaning that paychecks stretched a little further each year. The problem was for wealthier Japanese, who saw their savings earn little in the way of return.

The landscape for 2024 has proved rosier. The spring round of talks produced wage gains of 5.3 percent , the highest in more than 30 years and enough to beat continuing but generally tame inflation of around 3 percent. The BOJ, looking for an exit ramp from its balance sheet bloat, seized on the news and announced, more quickly than many economists had predicted, that it would be ending Kuroda’s guinea pig project for Japan’s economy.

From an external perspective, the BOJ move has been a reaffirmation that Japan is now the place to be. Investing legend Warren Buffett, as is often the case, signed on early, having invested an initial $6.7 billion in Japan’s five major trading companies in 2020, upping the stake to around 9 percent this year. Others have jumped on, pushing Japan’s stocks above the 1990 peak that came to epitomize the country’s once overinflated bubble economy.

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said in March that Japan’s economy appears to have turned a corner. “We are overweight in Japan, and our investors like the overweight,” he told Japan’s Nikkei newspaper , adding that he believed higher interest rates would actually help growth. “Having higher interest rates on your savings will stimulate more consumption, and that’s what Japan needs.”

But the domestic view is less optimistic. Some economists say the decision had little to do with confidence in the economy and was actually triggered by a sharply weakening Japanese yen, which has fallen 15 percent against the dollar in the past year and plummeted 50 percent since Kuroda’s easing program began in 2013. “The action was clearly driven by the yen. The economy has been slowing down—it just scraped by avoiding a recession. This is not a situation where you tighten,” said Martin Schulz, the chief economist for the electronics group Fujitsu. Higher interest rates tend to increase a currency’s value, although the markets have taken the opportunity to send the yen even lower.

Japanese economists also point out that despite the fanfare, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond has remained at just 0.8 percent.

And while there is enthusiasm about economic prospects, pessimists have plenty of negative data points on hand, especially in relation to Japan’s longer-term prospects. Japan has been a world leader in creating an aging society, with the population shrinking at a 0.5 percent rate. Even if Japan manages to come out of its aversion to mass immigration, society will have to change sharply.

The BOJ action is also a warning shot aimed at the government and its free-spending ways. In the years of Kuroda’s monetary easing, the central bank bought virtually all new debt that the government issued, pushing Japan’s already lofty government debt burden higher, to an estimated 264 percent of annual GDP , far above the level of any other functioning economy. Even a slight nudge higher in interest costs for the government will pose new problems as the Kishida government tries to keep up with growing social insurance costs while promising to sharply increase defense spending by somewhere between 60 and 100 percent over the next five years as the country faces a growing China threat.

There is also a hidden problem for the BOJ’s own finances. In the Alice in Wonderland world of negative rates , the BOJ charged commercial banks for depositing their money at the central bank, producing a tidy revenue stream. But now the BOJ will return to the more conventional notion of paying interests on such deposits, meaning a revenue source now becomes a cost.

The bigger issue is how the BOJ can extricate itself from its massive holdings while helping a fragile economy to grow even as stimulative government spending becomes more costly. “It will be difficult because the economy is so dependent on government spending,” Schulz said. “In terms of normalization, this is now the first step on the road. But it is a very long road.”

William Sposato is a Tokyo-based journalist who has been a contributor to Foreign Policy since 2015. He has been following Japan’s politics and economics for more than 20 years, working at Reuters and the Wall Street Journal . He is also the co-author of a 2021 book on the Carlos Ghosn affair and its impact on Japan.

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Last weekend’s security cooperation in the Middle East doesn’t indicate a new future for the region.

Forget About Chips—China Is Coming for Ships

Beijing’s grab for hegemony in a critical sector follows a familiar playbook.

‘The Regime’ Misunderstands Autocracy

HBO’s new miniseries displays an undeniably American nonchalance toward power.

Washington’s Failed Africa Policy Needs a Reset

Instead of trying to put out security fires, U.S. policy should focus on governance and growth.

Congress Helps Steer Taiwan Toward the ‘Porcupine Strategy’

Qatar is ready to call netanyahu’s hostage bluff, the strategic unseriousness of olaf scholz, putin should have known his invasion would fail.

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Mount Fuji view to be blocked as tourists overcrowd popular photo spot

Fujikawaguchiko town official says choice to erect huge barrier is ‘regrettable’ and last resort

A huge barrier to block views of Mount Fuji will be installed at a popular photo spot by Japanese authorities exasperated by crowds of badly behaved foreign tourists.

Construction of the mesh net – 2.5 metres (8ft) high and the length of a cricket pitch at 20 metres – will begin as early as next week, an official from Fujikawaguchiko town said on Friday.

“It’s regrettable we have to do this, because of some tourists who can’t respect rules,” leaving litter behind and ignoring traffic regulations, he told Agence France-Presse.

It is the latest direct action in Japan against over-tourism after residents of Kyoto’s geisha district banned visitors from small private alleys this year.

Record numbers of overseas tourists are travelling to Japan, where the number of monthly visitors exceeded 3 million in March for the first time.

Mount Fuji, Japan’s highest mountain, can be photographed from many spots in the resort town of Fujikawaguchiko. This viewpoint is particularly popular because the majestic – and active – volcano appears behind a Lawson convenience store, which are ubiquitous in Japan.

Due to this visual juxtaposition, “a reputation has spread on social media that this spot is very Japanese, making it a popular photo location”, said the town official, who declined to be named.

The mostly non-Japanese tourists are overcrowding a stretch of pavement next to the Lawson shop, he said.

After traffic signs and repeated warnings from security guards were ignored, the town in Yamanashi region decided on the huge screen as a last resort.

The measure is also meant to protect a nearby dental clinic against tourists who sometimes park there without permission and have even been seen climbing on to the roof of the clinic to get the perfect shot, the official said.

The town wished it had not been forced to take action, the official said, adding that the current plan was for the screen to stay up until the situation improves.

Japan has been a booming tourist destination since pandemic-era border restrictions were lifted, and the government has been working hard to boost visitor numbers. But this has not been universally welcomed, including in Kyoto, where people have complained of snap-happy tourists harassing the city’s immaculately dressed geisha.

This summer, hikers using the most popular route to climb Mount Fuji will be charged ¥2,000 each (£10.50, $13.35, A$20.50), with numbers capped to ease congestion.

Other destinations are also struggling with over-tourism. On Thursday, Venice began charging day-trippers to enter the city, while last week tens of thousands of people across the Canary Islands called for a freeze on visitor numbers .

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A Japanese Village Wants Tourists to Come for Heat, Soot and Steel

To lure visitors, residents of Yoshida, famed for its high-quality steel, are inviting tourists to help produce it.

The furnace in Yoshida reaches temperatures of about 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Credit...

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Photographs and Text by Craig Mod

• April 18, 2024

This past October, I found myself in Yoshida Village standing before a tatara, a giant open-top furnace that was filled with charcoal and raging with such controlled ferocity that it could have been a set piece in Lucifer’s bedroom.

Deep within the belly of those orange flames sat a growing and mangled ingot that contained some exceptionally high-quality steel called tamahagane, or jewel steel, from which Japanese swords have been made for much of the country’s history. The presence of a usable ingot seemed unlikely, and if true, downright alchemic. All we had been doing for the last 20 hours was gently shaking iron sand and fresh charcoal onto the flames at timed intervals.

Yoshida is nestled back in the mountains of Shimane Prefecture in central Japan, abutting the ever-turbulent Sea of Japan. For nearly 700 years, workers around Yoshida made jewel steel in places called tatara-ba (literally “furnace spots”) on a grueling schedule — one that reshaped mountains and rivers, that seared the brows of generations of sooty men shoveling charcoal in loincloths. Then, at the start of the 20th century, production all but ceased. Other methods were cheaper and more efficient.

At the height of its steel prowess, Yoshida swelled to nearly 15,000 people. Today, the population hovers around 1,500. As with many towns in the Japanese countryside, a mix of aging population, low birthrates and loss of industry has emptied its streets.

Recently, though, in a Colonial Williamsburg sort of way, 24-hour re-enactments of the old iron-smelting traditions began to be performed in Yoshida. The firings are managed by a man named Yuji Inoue, who works for Tanabe Corp., which owns the furnace. “We consider the tatara a symbol and a pillar of town development,” he told me, standing next to the flickering furnace. Mr. Inoue and Tanabe Corp. were trying to remake Yoshida into a kind of tatara village, which he hoped would create self-sufficiency, expand the population and revitalize the town.

And so with this notion of countryside regrowth in mind, a few times a year they fire up their furnace, invite tourists and birth an ingot weighing about 250 pounds.

The open-top blazing furnace was set on a concrete plinth in the center of a room. Flanking its longer sides were air intakes tubes, feeding the furnace, kicking it up to around 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Around it all hung Shinto purification ropes. Just before the fire was lit, a priest had blessed the whole place, for luck and safety.

Safety was paramount because around the flames, at various stations, milled a team of some 20 excited tourists, a mix of both Japanese and a few foreigners, all dressed in very hip dark gray jumpsuits. These were people paying roughly ¥200,000, or about $1,500, for the chance to be a worker in a tatara-ba for a day and night. (They would get to keep the jumpsuits and a small piece of raw steel as souvenirs.) Their faces and hands were streaked by charcoal.

Jewel steel is produced by sprinkling iron sand — alluvial (river-deposited) sand saturated with iron — slowly over a charcoal pit. The tourists spent hours chopping the pine charcoal to precise sizes. They used scoops woven from bamboo to gather heaps of charcoal and dump them atop the furnace.

Off to the side stood a man named Noriaki Yasuda. He was the designated conductor — called a murage — of this slow dance between heat, charcoal and dampened iron sand. Dressed in an electric blue jumpsuit, he stood out in beautiful, almost poetic, contrast to the licking orange flames.

Monitoring the airflow, the color of the fire and the height of the charcoal with paternal concern, Mr. Yasuda scowled and watched, sometimes retreating to sit in his dark alcove, his arms crossed, still scowling and watching. To produce steel using the tatara technique, it turns out, you spend a lot of time watching.

Outside the all-encompassing warmth of the tatara-ba, the October mountain air felt like prickles on the skin. The sky was abundant with shooting stars. Shimane Prefecture truly is in Japan’s hinterlands. You can take trains to Shimane, but from Tokyo it’s a fairly arduous journey. So it’s easier (and cheaper) to fly there. Of course, I rode the trains. The 500-mile trip took about seven hours.

The area is best known for its astounding Izumo Shrine, a foundational place in Japanese cultural mythology. Still, Shimane was one of the least visited prefectures in 2019. Only a sliver of all inbound tourists made their way that year. In contrast to sites like Gion in Kyoto, which is now overwhelmed by visitors, Shimane reminded me of Covid-era Japan when international tourism was effectively banned.

“Steel is just iron with a little bit of carbon,” Mr. Yasuda explained to me. When I finally built up the courage to talk with him, his face lit up in a wide smile from behind his mask. (Everyone was wearing masks, less out of Covid concerns and more because of the charcoal dust.) He casually led me to a blackboard in the back of his resting space and sketched out the basic chemical formulas of what was happening in the furnace, how charcoal serves two purposes. First, it burns much hotter than wood. And second, its carbon atoms are essential to the formation of steel; embedded between iron atoms, they increase the strength of the metal.

As I stood and watched that giant burning thing, I thought back to Akihira Kawasaki, the master Japanese swordsmith I had visited a few days earlier. I explained how I had never before held a Japanese sword, had never carefully looked at one up close. He nodded and removed one of his gleaming works from its scabbard and placed it on a piece of red felt.

I picked it up, and it felt like holding a black hole, as if light were disappearing into the ridge line of the blade, as if light was being flipped and flopped onto and into itself. My eyes couldn’t get a purchase on the thing. It glimmered and reflected like a mirror and simultaneously seemed to inhale the world. Held up to the lights, the blade seemed to glow as if lit from within.

I was mesmerized. It was a thing of extraordinary beauty: delicate yet strong, and terrifying in sharpness. An atavistic choir in the subcortical corner of my brain was screaming, “Stay away from that edge!” When I placed it back on the felt — warily, delicately, with great focus — I still accidentally sliced off a corner of the mat.

The gap between the smelting process and the end product of the sword was enough to make a thinking person faint. All this charcoal and sand, this heat, this sootiness, this periodic removal of slag — impurities that come out like molten lava, scooped up with shovels and carted away in beaten-up old wheelbarrows to be dumped outside in a smoldering heap — from the bottom of the furnace. That this process of utter rawness could result in a Japanese blade so pregnant with artistry and violence was a miracle of the highest order.

Back inside the tatara-ba, after 20 hours of feeding the furnace, the sand ran out and the process ended. A crowd of some 30 villagers, including several children, squeezed inside the furnace’s building. The concrete outer shell of the furnace was gingerly lifted with the help of a winch. The full force of the heat hit us all immediately. Inside still burned a mass of charcoal. Below the bed of charcoal was a floor of liquid slag. And in the middle of it sat what looked like a mauled rock — the ingot all this work had produced.

The crowd cheered. The ingot was brought onto the dirt floor, and we all gathered around it to take a family portrait.

Can you revitalize a town through steel-making in 2024? I don’t know. But Japan is dotted with this kind of history, culture and craft. The countryside is disappearing, but efforts like this are a worthwhile way to look back and honor what was — and to build something sustainable and future-facing.

There’s a practical element to it all, too: Tamahagane can’t be made any other way. “It seems that modern steel-making cannot produce the same thing,” Mr. Inoue told me when I asked why it was worth all the effort. “The tamahagane is right there, as the highest-quality pieces of the ingot,” he said. Those pieces will be broken off and shipped to a handful of swordsmiths across the country, and also to the museum shop in Yoshida. It turns out that tamahagane also makes amazing golf putters.

Craig Mod is a writer and photographer based in Kamakura and Tokyo. You can follow his work on Instagram: @craigmod . His previous book, “Kissa by Kissa,” chronicles a 435-mile walk along the Nakasendo Highway from Tokyo to Kyoto. His forthcoming book, “Things Become Other Things,” will be published by Random House in the spring of 2025.

Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram and sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to get expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. Dreaming up a future getaway or just armchair traveling? Check out our 52 Places to Go in 2024 .

Open Up Your World

Considering a trip, or just some armchair traveling here are some ideas..

52 Places:  Why do we travel? For food, culture, adventure, natural beauty? Our 2024 list has all those elements, and more .

Mumbai:  Spend 36 hours in this fast-changing Indian city  by exploring ancient caves, catching a concert in a former textile mill and feasting on mangoes.

Kyoto:  The Japanese city’s dry gardens offer spots for quiet contemplation  in an increasingly overtouristed destination.

Iceland:  The country markets itself as a destination to see the northern lights. But they can be elusive, as one writer recently found .

Texas:  Canoeing the Rio Grande near Big Bend National Park can be magical. But as the river dries, it’s getting harder to find where a boat will actually float .

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The U.S. economy slowed down in the first three months of 2024, report shows

Scott Horsley

The U.S. economy grew more slowly than expected in the first three months of the year. But consumers are still spending money — especially on services such as travel and restaurant meals.

SCOTT DETROW, HOST:

But first, the U.S. economy downshifted the first three months of this year. The government report out today shows the economy grew less than half as fast in the first quarter as it did during the previous three months. The news triggered a sell-off in the stock market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 375 points. NPR's Scott Horsley joins me now. Hey, Scott.

SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE: Hi - good to be with you.

DETROW: So investors were not happy about the slowdown. How big of a concern is this?

HORSLEY: Today's report shows the economy grew at an annual rate of just 1.6% in the first quarter. That is a marked downshift from the previous quarter, when we grew at nearly 3.5%. But, you know, that headline figure may overstate just how hard we hit the brakes. Some of the drop-off came from one-time factors, which really don't tell us much about the underlying economy.

If you zoom in on consumer spending, which is the biggest driver of economic growth, that actually held up pretty well. Americans did spend less on big-ticket items like cars and furniture in the first three months of the year. Those things are often financed, so high interest rates are likely taking a toll. But economist Shannon Grein of Wells Fargo notes people continue to ramp up their spending on services like restaurant meals and travel.

SHANNON GREIN: I think the overall report was still consistent with an economy that's pretty much firing on all cylinders.

HORSLEY: Indeed, services spending rose at an annual rate of 4% in the first quarter, which is fast enough to keep the economy chugging along and potentially fast enough to put some upward pressure on inflation. In fact, today's report shows a key measure of inflation ticked up in the first quarter, so that's something the Federal Reserve is going to be keeping a close eye on.

DETROW: And, of course, they've been keeping interest rates high. How are people paying for all of this spending?

HORSLEY: You know, some people are relying on credit to finance their spending, which is costly if you don't pay off that balance every month. But a lot of this spending is being bankrolled by people's paychecks. You know, we still got a very strong labor market. Lots of people are working. Wages are going up. And most people are not saving a lot of what they earn, so that money's going right back out the door as spending.Today's report also shows business investment held up pretty well in the first quarter, and there was a surprisingly big jump in housing investment.

DETROW: Yeah. That was interesting, especially since, as we've been saying throughout the conversation, mortgage rates are still pretty high. What's going on there?

HORSLEY: Yeah. Those high mortgage rates are definitely dragging down the housing market. Sales of existing homes are down, and there aren't a lot of older homes on the market, but that's giving an unexpected boost to new home construction. Investment in new homes was way up in the first quarter. Shawn Woods is a home builder in Kansas City. He says about 1 out of 3 homes sold in that area is now newly built.

SHAWN WOODS: The inventory that people can find for a new home is new construction, which is great for us as homebuilders, helping out our sales a lot. March and April have been really good months. We're looking for continued good momentum through the spring.

HORSLEY: Woods and other home builders have also been downsizing some of their homes, maybe cutting back on some of the luxury finishes in order to craft a product that home buyers can afford.

WOODS: Before the pandemic, there's no way we could get under really 325,000, and we have reengineered some of our plans, taken different specifications and things like that. And we're bringing new homes to the market now in the 286 to 290 range, starting price. So that's helped immensely.

HORSLEY: That's especially important now that mortgage rates are up above 7%.

DETROW: That's NPR's Scott Horsley. Scott, thanks so much.

HORSLEY: You're welcome.

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