As the Japanese government eases travel restrictions, tourists from Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam, Southeast Asia, and other countries have increased. However, still subject to China’s “zero-COVID” policy, most Chinese still fail to travel abroad.
Tourists from Hong Kong, in particular, like to visit Tokyo, Osaka, and Okinawa. Japanese anime is hugely popular in Hong Kong, and many Hong Kongers love Japanese food. In 2019, before the outbreak of COVID-19, about 2.29 million people from Hong Kong visited Japan, equivalent to one-third of its population.
Tourist Hot Spots
Now that Japan’s border policy has been relaxed and independent tours have resumed, what do tourists want to do most when they visit Japan? Recently, The Epoch Times visited some shops and scenic spots in Osaka to see what visitors are doing.At noon on Oct. 30, many tourists were eating seafood barbecue at Kuromon Market in Osaka. Most of them were Asian, from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Cambodia.
Mr. Wong (a pseudonym), who was visiting from Hong Kong, told The Epoch Times that his family visited Japan four years ago.
“A lot of things have happened in Hong Kong in the past few years, and with the epidemic prevention control, people are under a lot of pressure,” he said. “So as soon as Japan opened up for independent tours, [we] immediately booked tickets and a hotel. This time, [we] will mainly visit Osaka, Kyoto, and Nara. [We] plan to go to Hokkaido in the New Year.”
Coming to Shop
At an electronics store in Namba, a staff member told The Epoch Times that when the Japanese government opened to foreign tour groups in June, many stores prepared for a rush of tourists enjoying duty-shopping and special tourist coupons. However, although stores are seeing more business, it’s not up to pre-pandemic levels.“The number of tourists shopping is increasing every day, but it is still far from the purchasing power before the pandemic. [It’s] mainly because Chinese tourists can’t come,” the staff member said.
We saw several Taiwanese shoppers who said they enjoy buying household essentials from Japan and came here to shop before the pandemic. This time, they came to buy rice cookers and said they will return.
At the Hankyu Department Store in Osaka, many tourists were buying brand-name products like bags, clothes, and watches. Sonny, a Mexican tourist, told The Epoch Times that now is a good time to convert dollars into yen. The same brand-name products he was buying in Japan are five to six times more expensive at home, he said.
Zero-COVID Still Impacts the Tourist Trade
On Oct. 31, at Osaka Bay Tower, two Chinese travelers spoke to The Epoch Times, saying China’s strict “Zero-COVID” policy makes it hard to get approval to travel to Japan.“You won’t be able to come out in the name of travel. It’s even hard to apply for a passport. The scrutiny is stricter than before,” they said.
“Not many can come out in the name of studying abroad either. Many graduates want to study abroad, [because] they can’t find a job in China. Even if they find a job, the salary is very low. They’re all factory workers, and the knowledge they learned in school isn’t being used.”
The owner of a vacation rental, who gave his name as Mr. Fujiyi, told The Epoch Times that he is starting to see guests, and reservations for the new year are being made now. Late November is the time when Osaka’s leaves are at their most beautiful, so reservations, mostly from Southeast Asian countries, are usually made well in advance. However, cancellations are a problem, particularly from travelers who find themselves in lockdown.
“In late September, a Chinese family of three made an appointment to come to Japan from Nov. 20 to 27, but canceled it on Oct. 28, saying that they were under lockdown and did not know when they could get out,” Fujiyi said.