The city of a thousand temples is increasing its attempts to reduce the flow of visitors and contain overflows. Some operators are skeptical about the effectiveness of raising the tax level on overnight stays.
Bans on certain streets for tourists, a tax… Nothing helps. In Japan, the city of Kyoto remains under intense pressure from tourists, while the country itself breaks its visitor record every year, a phenomenon undoubtedly encouraged by the weakness of the Yen. While at Mount Fuji, another place subject to tourist pressure, a gauge has emerged, the authorities of the former imperial capital of Japan want to activate financial leverage, by considerably increasing the tourist tax. The authorities plan to gradually increase it to around €60 per night and per person depending on the accommodation, from March 2026.
A prospect that frightens tourism professionals and also seems to divide residents. Some say this will be effective in reducing pressure on infrastructure, while others warn that tourists will choose to stay in nearby cities, such as Osaka, from where they will come on day trips to Kyoto “Yes, overtourism is a problem in many parts of Kyoto and at certain times of the year, but I'm sure foreign tourists will very quickly realize that they can stay in a nearby city and only visit Kyoto for the day. This will not be good for hotel operators and will not effectively reduce tourist numbers [à Kyoto]“, Masaru Takayama, president of Spirit of Japan Travel, an agency based in Kyoto, told the media This Week in Asia.
Japanese tourists
According to him, this plan will generate inconveniences that the city authorities have not thought of, such as putting off domestic tourists, penalized by the weakness of their national currency compared to foreigners.
Taxes on overnight stays were introduced in 2018, with a system of thresholds, the tax level being linked to the price of the night: 200 yen (€1.24) for a night costing less than 20,000 yen (€124) , etc. The highest rate is just over €6 for an overnight stay costing €310 or more per person.
The new grid, which will be examined by the municipal council in February, would keep this system of thresholds by establishing five and making each one more expensive. According to NHK, the current tax would have generated revenues of around thirty million euros last year. If the project is approved it must receive the green light from the national government
