Date : July 25, 2025
Measures Against Overtourism—Making Japan a Sustainable Tourism Destination (Dr. Toshinori Tanaka, Associate Professor, Kyushu University)
post date : 2025.06.26
In 2024, the number of inbound tourists to Japan reached a record high of 36.86 million, with over 8 trillion yen in spending. With growing expectations for inbound tourism, the Japanese government has implemented various policies to make Japan a tourism-oriented nation, and has set targets of 60 million inbound tourists and 15 trillion yen in spending by 2030.
However, in areas such as Kyoto and Mount Fuji, overtourism has become a major issue, with crowding, traffic jams, rising land prices, and deteriorating public order. In order to create sustainable tourism that can coexist with local communities and the natural environment, it is hoped that the tourists who are concentrated in the three major metropolitan areas (Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya) and famous tourism sites can be spread out to other regions throughout Japan as well.
The FPCJ has invited Dr. Toshinori Tanaka, an associate professor at Kyushu University, to discuss measures Japan can take against overtourism to promote sustainable tourism, including comparisons with other cases around the world and the issues currently facing tourism in Japan.
Please note that you cannot physically attend this briefing, as it will be a Zoom webinar.
Embassy representatives and FPCJ supporting members may also participate in the briefing as observers (admission free).
■Date: 14:00-15:30, Friday, July 25, 2025 (Deadline for application: 12:00, Thursday, July 24)
■Theme: Measures Against Overtourism—Making Japan a Sustainable Tourism Destination
■Briefer: Dr. Toshinori Tanaka, Associate Professor, Kyushu University
Brief Bio: Born in 1983, in Kagoshima Prefecture. Received his PhD in Global Environmental Studies from Kyoto University. Started at his current position in April 2021, after holding positions including a researcher at the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and as an associate professor at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Frontier Sciences. Recent published works include Solving Overtourism.
■Language: Japanese, with consecutive English interpretation
As in our standard press briefings, there will be a Q&A session at the end.
*In principle, questions will only be accepted from members of the foreign press.
■Members of the Foreign Press:
Please send any questions for the briefer or topics you are interested in to cp@fpcjpn.or.jp by 12:00 on Tuesday, July 22.
As there will only be a limited amount of time to ask questions during the briefing, we will collect questions and provide them to the briefer in advance.
■How to Apply: Please refer to the email we sent.
*We will not be accepting applications by email.