Japan’s Over-Tourism | What Tourists Need to Know for 2025
Japan has changed significantly in recent years, and if you’re planning a trip in 2025, there are important updates you need to know. From new travel regulations to the impact of over-tourism, exploring cities like Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto requires more preparation than ever before. With the Osaka Expo 2025 on the horizon, millions of visitors are expected to flock to Japan, making it crucial to plan ahead. In this guide, we’ll cover everything from must-know travel tips to the latest changes affecting tourism in Japan.
0:00 Intro
1:06 1. Kyoto Bus System Reform
3:09 2. Street Drinking Ban in Shibuya
4:06. 3. Introduction of Entrance Fees for Famous Tourist Attractions
5:02 4. Cab Shortage and New Services
5:54 5. Significant Price Increase for JR Pass
7:43 6. Introduction of Double Pricing
9:13 7. Changes in Customer Service Staff
10:11 8. Rising Cost of Hotel Accommodations
11:09 9. Turning Local Spots into Tourist Destinations
12:14 10. Stricter Traffic Regulations in Tourist Areas
13:29 11#
14:39 12#
15:58 13#
16:58 14#
18:22 15#
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25 Comments
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Thanks for the video. There is a lot of information. In regards to the lack of taxis is Uber available in Tokyo and Kyoto?
Thanks!
Thanks Mef for another helpful video ❤
Excellent video
This is such an important video for visitors to watch! After having been twice I would tell first time visitors things like: Don't try to take your luggage on buses in Kyoto-use a taxi for your arrival and departure, please learn the train etiquette for Japan and then follow it, please tune into how the Japanese use shared public space as visitors take up all sorts of room just walking on the street, Japan has an intricate culture so please learn about it and remember it is not a theme park. I can't tell anyone not to go but having an actual interest in the culture and people makes an enormous difference in going. Social media has really created a bad kind of tourism.
With hundreds of advisory content on YouTube, Meg is well informed, relevant and is a great communicator, thank you.
no overtourism just overtalking about overtourism
Hi, greetings from Hong Kong 🇭🇰 SAR. I have not been back to Japan since 1980, but please update me on the information about cash-less top-up card for public transportation and general purchases using this convenient card.🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Great, thanks
Japan is not cheap for foreigners. Japan is cheap for americans.
These increases are a shame. The yen will recover eventually and tourism will clear. Let’s see what happens after.
Over-tourism seems like the perfect excuse to increase all type of taxes, way to go Japan!!! 😂
The Kyoto bus service lines for sightseeing locations should have been created years ago. Even before COVID the locals were complaining about tourists packing the buses.
Regarding double pricing, I contend that offering a "local" discount via passport, drivers license or some type of ID is infinitely easier to implement. Everyone sees the one price but those that live in Japan can show their ID to receive a discount.
A fee for using the toilet…I would never be more convinced to pay 100-200 yen for using high quality bathrooms right on the street. I've paid around the same in Chile (my country) for using bathrooms and some of them are in as poor conditions as those from the SAW 1 movie.
Is it ideal to visit OSAKA in July? I guess it’s less crowded due to Rainy Season.
Thank you
Excellent summary! Japan should also consider terminating duty-free for tourists except at airports. It is unfair to local residents imho..
Without Tourism, Japan's economy would be in the toilet…. With so much outside money coming in, it's keeping their economy afloat…. So stop complaining…..
Stop visiting Japan! Japanese are generally arrogant! Complaining about everything while they benefit $50 billion a year from tourism!
As a non American tourist ( Chilean) I’m happy i traveled twice before 2023😅. I wouldn’t be able to afford it now. But in happy this will hopefully help Japanese citizens with the overcrowding
I know this might sound harsh but this is coming from someone that has been to Japan quite a few times, I have never had any problems and I love to visit. There was 37 million tourists to japan last year and brought in roughly 54 Billion USD in extra income. Charging extra fees and dual pricing will not solve the problem. Japanese citizens will still be inconvenienced and there will still be incidents involving tourists. There is not really a easy solution. The most harmonious solution is for Japanese government to find the areas that cause the more problems and invest into infrastructure. Take Kyoto for example looking at some estimated numbers there was 70 million tourists visiting Kyoto (domestic + foreign) The government needs to invest into these areas. Extra busses , extra garbage cans etc. Charging extra money for bus fare and food is not going to solve the problem. The government needs to get ahead of the problem. Where I live, during the 80's and 90's there was lots of Japanese tourists (as well as other asian countries) and there was a lot of anti-asian sentiment not really like racism just annoyance and lots of strong language (sounds similar?). This was a vocal minority but they were vocal (sounds similar). There was lots of garbage and incidents with local wildlife but eventually due to economic reasons the tourism really slowed down and then local tourism suffered. That "problem" solved itself with the death of tourism, but we all no that won't happen with Tokyo-Osaka-Kyoto. Those cities will always be the paris-rome-london of Japan and you should look to those cities and what worked (and didn't work) for them. More money will not equal more acceptance for tourists , it will not really change anything there is already a huge amount of money coming in to the country from tourists. If the answer is really just that local people want less tourists in the country then just make it harder to get a tourist Visa.
I'm wondering if the new tax on hotels will be charged to people who have already paid or new reservations?
I go to Utsunomiya twice a year. Beautiful city and not crowded whatsoever.
I like that Kyoto introduced express buses for tourists. I would like to see it expanded even if it's like ever 30 min on week day mornings until 11:30 or something like that. I think it's good for tourists to get to locations quickly with out causing problems for the locals by overcrowding the buses that they need to get around for work and normal daily needs.
It is also a good idea to raise rates for daily passes that tourists will use often. 700 yen to 1100 yen isn't a terrible increase for tourists and doesn't raise the costs for locals.