TOKYO (AFP) – Foreign tourists are flocking to Japan in record numbers and thanks to a sliding yen many are living like kings, splashing out on everything from kimonos to knives and slap-up meals.
“I bought three pairs of shoes, which is something I would never normally do,” French tourist Katia Lelievre, 36, said with a laugh in the bustling Asakusa area of Tokyo famous for its Buddhist temple and souvenir shops.
The brands available in Japan are the same as in Europe — Converse, Nike and Adidas — but because of the exchange rate “it was really worth it” to buy, she told AFP.
“The food is really cheap. (I spent a lot) especially on food. I tried everything I wanted,” Dominique Stabile, 31, visiting from Italy, told AFP.
“I had a budget set and I didn’t exceed it, so I’m happy.”
Local businesses are also benefitting.
“A lot of people do the math and when they see the equivalent in their country’s currency they say: ‘Wow, I’m going to buy that too’,” said Saori Iida, who works in a shop selling traditional second-hand Japanese clothes.
“Yesterday, we had someone who bought 15 kimonos,” she said.
“Thanks to the weak yen, foreign customers are buying a lot of handmade knives, even as prices rise,” said Yuki Suzuki, 21, who works in a shop selling knives, another tourist favourite.
“I feel like there are now more customers who want to own sets and buy a little more, for example several blades made by the same craftsman,” she told AFP.
In March the monthly number of foreign visitors surpassed three million for the first time, up 11.6 per cent from March 2019 before the Covid pandemic torpedoed tourism.
Spending per head soared 52 per cent over the first three months compared to the same year.
Currency movements help explain why. In 2019 a dollar bought JPY112, compared to almost 158 on Wednesday, a 34-year low. On Monday it briefly hit 160.
A bowl of ramen noodles costs around JPY1,000, which in 2019 was around USD8.90 and is now USD6.30.
A luxury watch or handbag labelled at JPY700,000 yen in Tokyo now costs the equivalent USD4,430, a snip compared to USD6,250 five years ago.
Many shops exempt tourists from Japan’s 10-per cent sales tax if they show their passport.
The biggest spenders per capita are Australians followed by visitors from Britain and Spain, according to the Japanese tourism agency.