Treasure hunt

Nguồn tin: nguontinviet.com

IN GINZA, Tokyo’s best-known shopping district, a dozen-odd tour buses disgorge crowds of determined Chinese shoppers at their first stop: a suitcase emporium from which they emerge with the extra capacity they need to cart home the cornucopia of Japanese goods they are about to amass, including what mainlanders now dub Japan’s “four treasures”—brand-name rice cookers, vacuum flasks, ceramic knives and high-tech lavatory seats (see article). In the funky boutiques of Daikanyama, Chinese dandies are hard to tell apart from local counterparts in cropped trousers and round, horn-rimmed spectacles (until recently Chinese tourists always stood out a mile for their unsophisticated dress sense). Meanwhile, mainland Chinese, Hong Kongers, Taiwanese and South Koreans are filling hotels and ryokan, traditional inns, from Japan’s northernmost province of Hokkaido to Okinawa, a subtropical island in the south.

The tourism boom began in earnest last year and has far surpassed anything the government dared hope for. Just over 13m foreigners, 11m of them Asian, came to Japan in 2014, up nearly 30% compared with a year earlier and half as many again as in 2010. Chinese arrivals have jumped by more than four-fifths since 2013, and 450,000 mainlanders came for the week of the Chinese new year in February alone.

A huge incentive is the weakness of the yen thanks to the Bank of Japan’s monetary easing. The currency has fallen sharply, including by nearly two-fifths against the yuan, which is loosely pegged to the dollar, since October 2011. The draw for sightseers and shoppers is proving irresistible. Foreign tourists spent ¥2 trillion ($18.9 billion) last year, about double their outlay in 2012. Think of it as the most visible consequence of Abenomics, the plan by the prime minister, Shinzo Abe, to boost the economy mainly through central-bank easing. Once notorious for its high prices, Japan is now ludicrously cheap. Song Yuanyin, hired by a Shanghainese family to help hunt for rice cookers, says goods are much cheaper than in Shanghai.

Looser visa rules have also helped spur inbound tourism, along with tax-free shopping. Japanese businesses are adapting. No-frills hotels for travelling salarymen are being revamped to cater to foreign tourists—hotels in the Apa group (“Always Pleasant Amenity”) are popular with foreigners for their traditional twist and low cost. Michi no eki, government-designated rest areas for motorists offering restaurants, crafts shops and even onsen hot springs now aim their services squarely at Asian visitors.

The Japanese themselves were once caricatured as they descended upon Europe’s tourist spots by the coach load. Now many Japanese complain about boorish Asian tourists. South Koreans, for instance, always demand discounts, says Kazushi Komatsuzaki, the manager of a men’s clothing store in Daikanyama. Another manager of a clothes shop says that even though Chinese buy as many as 30 items at a time, they tend to eat while fingering all the goods. At onsen, visitors violate a strict etiquette, with Chinese the worst offenders, says Kaori Tsuda, the owner of a thatched onsen resort in Hakone, a national park near Mount Fuji. You are supposed to wash yourself thoroughly before quietly slipping in naked to the communal pool. Instead, some Chinese jump in fully clothed and even try to make bubbles by pouring in liquid soap. In refined Kyoto, Chinese were caught—horrors—shaking a cherry tree to make a shower of blossom. But it is all worth it. A foreign visitor spends on average ¥130,000, and a good chunk of the spending benefits depressed local regions once visitors can be lured away from Ginza.

Besides, visitors seem to take home more than just souvenirs, shopping bags and selfies. Zeng Yang, from the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, says that she particularly relishes Japan’s clean air. For Chinese visiting Hakone, the clear skies and pristine environment make a deep impression, says Ling Yun, a guide. In Naha, Okinawa’s capital, Hong Kongers fill huge bags with fresh vegetables and fruit, so wary are they of chemically contaminated produce back home from mainland China.

What is more, as Japanese diplomats observe hopefully, mainland Chinese visitors are often surprised to find that their neighbours are not the blood-curdling imperialists portrayed in anti-Japanese television dramas in China. Instead, they go home with stories of having lost wallets or other items safely returned to them. Indeed, on Sina Weibo, a Chinese microblogging service, a theme of the “true goodness” of the Japanese has taken off, much to the Japanese tourist board’s delight. For this outbreak of amity, give thanks to the central bank.

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