Tourism Activity in Japan

Definition: Tourism is the activities of people travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than a consecutive year for leisure, business, and other purposes.

Economic Impact
The growth of tourism in Japan has brought about both positive and negative impacts.

Development of tourism in Japan increase Japan’s tourism revenue, providing economic benefits for the Japanese population. As a result, governments can use this revenue to improve education, health, defence, housing and transportation in Japan. This will benefit the Japanese and thus improve their standard of living.

However, the growth of tourism will widen the income gap between the rich and poor. Although tourism development will cause certain parts of Japan to develop rapidly, it has also contributed to the other regions of Japan to be less developed. This is because the rich in the developed countries will continue to prosper due to better opportunities, while the poor and lowly-skilled workers face economic uncertainties such as retrenchment.

Social Impact
The growth of tourism has also changed the way people lead their lives. It has commodified Japan’s culture and transforms the society.

Tourism development in Japan allows the Japanese to be more aware of different foreign cultures.

However, it will also lead to loss of local culture. As foreign culture has been brought into Japan, a largely homogenous culture is created in Japan.

Growth in Japan’s tourism has also led to the spread of pop culture across the globe. These cultures include rap music, MTV, and Hollywood movies. These cultures have influenced the youths negatively as they lose interest in the local culture.