The Japanese government is trying to lure more visitors from China and elsewhere in Asia by lifting visa restrictions. Among 14 priority markets identified by the tourism agency is also the U.S., which supplied 892,000 tourists in 2014, up 12%. The goal is to lift the number of foreign tourists to 20 million in 2020, when Tokyo is set to host the Summer Olympics.
Seibu Holdings, which owns the Prince hotel chain, says the number of foreign guests, who account for about one-sixth of the total, rose 19% in the six months through Sept. 30, offsetting a 5% decline in domestic customers. Japan Airlines Co. has added flights from Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh City.
The increase in tourism has lifted share prices of companies such as Oriental Land Co., which operates the Tokyo Disney Resort, and Central Japan Railway Co., which runs high-speed trains between Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka.
Sightseeing destinations are getting savvier about promoting themselves to overseas visitors. The Fushimi Inari shrine in Kyoto displays huge banners in English boasting that overseas users of TripAdvisor, a travel website, last year chose it as the most popular tourist spot in Japan. In December, Koshidaka Holdings Co., an entertainment company, opened what it described as the first halal karaoke bar in central Tokyo, aimed at Muslim visitors from countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia.
Japan still poses many hurdles to foreigners. Speakers of English or Chinese are scarce outside of major tourist destinations. Foreign bank cards work at only a handful of automated teller machines, though tourism officials are trying to change that.
“It’s very difficult to speak with the taxi drivers,” said Fabrizio Fantani of Pisa, Italy, who was window-shopping in Ginza. “They don’t speak English and they don’t understand where I want to go. The tourist information is not so good.”
Other tourists, however, say the weak yen is all the welcome they need.
Joanna Lim of Townsville, Australia, visited a temple in Tokyo recently before heading to a ski resort with her husband and children. “For a lot of Australians we know, it’s cheaper to ski here than in Australia,” Ms. Lim said.