Japan is definitely the favourite Asian destination for discerning travellers right now.
Japan welcomed a million more foreign visitors in the first half of 2024 compared to pre-pandemic levels, logging a new record of 17.78 million, national tourism organisation the JNTO announced.
The weak yen is attracting large crowds to Japan, with tourists splashing out on everything from kimonos to knives, boosting the local economy, AFP reported.
The January-June figure beat the previous high from 2019 of 16.63 million, an influx that has prompted overcrowding concerns at hotspots such as Kyoto and Mount Fuji.
"It is important that we promote rural regions to visitors, while taking measures against overtourism," Prime Minister Fumio Kushida.told a cabinet meeting on the nation's efforts to expand inbound tourism.
Japan is expecting 35 million overseas visitors in 2024.
Over the 2023 calendar year, 25 million visitors came to Japan, after strict pandemic-era border restrictions were lifted.
The country has set an ambitious goal of luring 60 million tourists a year by 2030 - around double 2019's full-year record of 31.88 million.
But some residents are already fed up with unruly behaviour and etiquette breaches by some foreign visitors.
In a town near Mount Fuji in May, authorities mounted a large barrier at a popular viewing spot next to a convenience store in an attempt to deter photo-taking.
New crowd control measures have been put in place on the volcano's most popular hiking trail, which now has an entry fee of 2,000 yen ($20) plus an optional donation.
Locals in historic Kyoto have complained of tourists harassing the city's famed geishas, with visitors now banned from some private alleys.
And the mayor of Himeji has said the western Japanese city, famous for its castle, could make tourists pay four times as much as locals to visit the World Heritage site.
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