After traveling to Tokyo for meetings, employees of Yoshiki Kojima’s information technology company crashed out in a capsule hotel, as a tourism boom makes regular rooms too pricey for business trips.
A weak yen is attracting more visitors than ever to Japan, with national tourism figures released on Wednesday showing a new record of an estimated 36.8 million arrivals last year.
That is also raising prices for Kojima’s staff and other Japanese business travelers.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Capsule hotels, a Japanese institution, offer claustrophobic bed-sized pods, often double-stacked in rows.
Kojima said that they have a “shabby” reputation, so he found a more comfortable establishment that boasts high-end mattresses and a TV in each capsule.
“It’s clean, convenient and has a traditional shared bath house. My employees say it’s fun,” he said.
A night in a standard capsule there starts at ¥5,000 (US$31.99) — but its rates are rising, he said.
It is still cheaper than a basic private room at a business hotel, which in the Japanese capital cost ¥20,048 on average in November last year.
That is up from the pre-COVID-19-pandemic peak of ¥12,926 in April 2019, according to research by Tokyo Hotel Kai, an association that represents about 200 hotels.
“I’m happy there are so many visitors to Japan, but I’m agonizing every day about finding a flexible way” to run the business, said Kojima, who needs to bring about 20 to 30 employees to the capital for company-wide meetings.
The Japanese economy benefits from the surge in foreign tourists because it creates jobs and the visitors spend money, NLI Research Institute analyst Takuto Yasuda said.
“But it has a negative impact as well, such as Japanese people not being able to travel, or their daily lives being affected by overtourism,” he said.
Japan’s chronic labor shortages and an increase in hotel supply costs are also pushing up the fees, he added.
Keisuke Morimoto, who runs a kimono shop in Japan’s western Nara Prefecture, was shocked when he learned a two-night stay at a Tokyo hotel would cost him ¥60,000.
“Seriously, what do I do for the hotel for my business trip?” he wrote on social media.
Morimoto said he is thinking of using short-term rental platform Airbnb Inc, which has cheaper options.
Some tourist spots are fighting back against overtourism, including the ancient capital of Kyoto, where residents have complained of visitors harassing the city’s famed geisha.
Now, Kyoto plans to hike its accommodation taxes, including by up to 10 times for top-end hotels, the mayor said on Tuesday.
Japan wants to welcome 60 million visitors a year by 2030.
That could mean even more expensive domestic business trips to Tokyo, Osaka and major cities, where demand for hotel bookings has spiked due to crowds of first-time visitors.
The number of foreign visitors to Tokyo has doubled since 2019, and was up 1.5 times in Osaka, government data showed.
To even things out, the government wants tourists to visit lesser-known destinations, encouraging them to stay at least two nights in rural towns.
Yasuda agreed that funneling visitors elsewhere is key to easing pressure on city hotels.
The occupancy rate last year for business hotels in Tokyo run by major operator Fujita Kanko Inc was 88 percent, and average rates were up 26 percent from last year, the company said.
“Currently, demand is concentrated in major cities such as Tokyo and Osaka, so we are hoping that this will spread to Sapporo, Naha and other smaller regions,” the firm said.
Kojima said he might resort to drastic measures.
“I’m thinking of moving our headquarters to Sapporo, or organizing a meeting in a hot spring town near Tokyo,” he said. “There are many areas that aren’t flooded with tourists, and we can take advantage of that.”
Zhang Yazhou was sitting in the passenger seat of her Tesla Model 3 when she said she heard her father’s panicked voice: The brakes do not work. Approaching a red light, her father swerved around two cars before plowing into a sport utility vehicle and a sedan, and crashing into a large concrete barrier. Stunned, Zhang gazed at the deflating airbag in front of her. She could never have imagined what was to come: Tesla Inc sued her for defamation for complaining publicly about the vehicles brakes — and won. A Chinese court ordered Zhang to pay more than US$23,000 in
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday held its first board of directors meeting in the US, at which it did not unveil any new US investments despite mounting tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Trump has threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, prompting market speculation that TSMC might consider boosting its chip capacity in the US or ramping up production of advanced chips such as those using a 2-nanometer technology process at its Arizona fabs ahead of schedule. Speculation also swirled that the chipmaker might consider building its own advanced packaging capacity in the US as part
‘NO DISRUPTION’: A US trade association said that it was ready to work with the US administration to streamline the program’s requirements and achieve shared goals The White House is seeking to renegotiate US CHIPS and Science Act awards and has signaled delays to some upcoming semiconductor disbursements, two sources familiar with the matter told reporters. The people, along with a third source, said that the new US administration is reviewing the projects awarded under the 2022 law, meant to boost US domestic semiconductor output with US$39 billion in subsidies. Washington plans to renegotiate some of the deals after assessing and changing current requirements, the sources said. The extent of the possible changes and how they would affect agreements already finalized was not immediately clear. It was not known
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said that its investment plan in Arizona is going according to schedule, following a local media report claiming that the company is planning to break ground on its third wafer fab in the US in June. In a statement, TSMC said it does not comment on market speculation, but that its investments in Arizona are proceeding well. TSMC is investing more than US$65 billion in Arizona to build three advanced wafer fabs. The first one has started production using the 4-nanometer (nm) process, while the second one would start mass production using the