Kyoto’s new mayor vows to curb overtourism, but will his efforts hurt Japanese city’s ‘lifeblood’?

They said that while there needed to be a discussion about the problem of overtourism in Kyoto, which is considered one of Japan’s “must-see” travel destinations, some of Matsui’s promises – such as raising fares for buses and trains for visitors, and restricting non-residents’ cars from entering the city – could cause even greater problems.

The solution, they suggest, is a more radical rethink of the ancient capital’s approach to tourism that satisfies both residents and visitors.

Matsui, a former member of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan who served as deputy chief cabinet secretary between 2009 and 2010, ran as an independent with the support of four major political parties. He edged out his main rival, Kazuhito Fukuyama, who was backed by the Japanese Communist Party, by 16,000 votes.

Aware of residents’ antipathy towards foreign visitors, which has worsened since the final pandemic travel restrictions were lifted last year, Matsui vowed to implement a two-tier public transport system and subsidise the fares of local residents.

He admitted, however, that such a scheme would require a change in national laws and that he would need to draw up a plan to detail how it might work.

Matsui has also proposed a tourist-only bus network that would ferry travellers between the main sights and free up space on regular city bus services.

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Local residents have complained about long queues at many of the city’s most famous sights, rubbish in the streets, traffic jams and noise from properties rented out privately.

More than 43.6 million tourists visited Kyoto in 2022, of whom around 576,000 were foreign nationals, more than double the figure of the previous year, when virtually everyone was a domestic visitor due to border restrictions.

“Kyoto needs to go back to basics and ask how it got to this point,” said Ashley Harvey, a marketing analyst who has worked in Japan’s travel sector for more than 15 years.

“The volume of tourists visiting Kyoto has for many years been the result of marketing a specific time of year – cherry blossom season in spring and then later the autumn leaves – combined with a narrow focus on the most famous temples, the geisha district, and so on,” he told This Week In Asia.

“Over the years, that created the image that these are the only times you should go and these are the places you have to visit,” Harvey said. “There needs to be better management of how to control the flow of visitors and to disperse them from pinch points in the city, because up to now, there has not been enough focus on getting the balance right.”

Masaru Takayama, president of Kyoto-based Spirit of Japan Travel, agreed that there was an “imbalance” in visitor management across the city.

“In parts of the city, it is just impossible to separate the local residents from tourists and I’m not sure that different prices on trains or buses is actually workable,” he said. “How do they go about setting that system up and then policing it to make sure that only locals use cheaper tickets?

“And I’m not sure the travel industry here is so keen on policies that might put people off coming,” he added. “Yes, demand is rising again, but a lot of companies are still trying to claw back everything that they lost during the pandemic, and sustainability really is not a priority for them at present.”

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It is critical, however, that a city which relies so heavily on tourism finds equilibrium, Takayama said.

One suggestion is for promotion efforts to move away from the traditional seasonal peaks and to encourage people to come throughout the year, such as by holding cultural events in months that are typically seen as off-season or shoulder months. Equally, the city has countless attractions that are rarely on foreign visitors’ itineraries.

“Something has to be done to make Kyoto into a 365-days-of-the-year destination, to build brand awareness that it’s not just a seasonal location,” Harvey said.

He added more could also be done to promote relatively close destinations that were often overlooked, including the beaches of northern Kyoto prefecture, Wakayama city, Lake Biwa, and Nara, Japan’s other ancient capital. All of those are day trips from Kyoto, so their promotion would not impact the overnight spending.

“There seems to be too much of a mismatch,” Harvey said. “There is such a strong campaign to encourage people to go to Kyoto, but when they get there, you almost get the sense that you are not welcome, because there are signs with lists of the things visitors can’t do and so on.

“Kyoto should break away from the clichés and manage the flows of visitors better – and it’s important they get it right because tourism really is the lifeblood of the city.”