In comparison to before, there is more variety in services and products that have become popular among visitors who come to Japan. Snow has become a major attraction that has helped to counter the declining number of Japanese domestic travelers. One example is Yamagata’s Zao hot springs area where within these two years there has been an increase in number of visitors from Asia, especially Korea that come to ski. While there has been a general decrease in number of Japanese visitors at all ski resorts in Japan, last season the Zao area welcomed an average of 6000 non-Japanese visitors, which is twice the year before. These statistics were made possible with the help of about 20 Korean travel agencies which planned a scheme to attract these newcomers with a sensible 3 day 2 night ski package under 50,000 yen. Locals in the area are trying hard to welcome these new visitors posting multilingual signs and menus but more work needs to be done to continue increasing visitors. However, the future does seem promising.
Similar to these trends, there has been an increase in number of people from Hong Kong who visit Japan during the Lunar New Year holiday, especially to Hokkaido, Tokyo, Osaka, and Wakayama for not only shopping but to be exposed to nature.
Apart from tourists wanting a glimpse of Japan’s ski slopes and waterfalls, Akihabara is still on the list of popular tourist destination. However instead of searching for the standard electronics or anime, now what visitors from especially China want are plastic models of helicopters and other vehicles which are said to be expensive back home. Shop owners say that these visitors are more eager to make large purchases than the Japanese locals. One visit may lead to a 100,000 yen purchase.
Other popular items among visitors are health products such as supplements, baby formula, and high tech western style toilets. Restaurants are seeing a change in their customers. Kaiten-zushi (conveyer belt sushi) restaurants are seeing that there has been an increase in number of Asian customers, especially from China and Korea. Lodging facilities, particularly capsule hotels and budget ryokans (traditional Japanese-style hotels are seeing an increase in number of Western visitors.