Why Japan Tourism is Dying (NOT what you think)

Most tourists go to the same 3 cities leaving the rest of Japan empty. Undertourism has lead to the collapse of mega tourist sites across the country like today's destination: Kinugawa Onsen.

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[MinasanKonnichiwa]

Yup, it was the economic bubble burst of the 1990s. Once I was hiking a mountain in Mie prefecture and instead of taking the conventional mountain trail, I decided to take a more direct route via a plateau. I stumbled upon an area with hundreds of abandoned houses—some partially destroyed, others completely reclaimed by nature. Solo hiking in forests doesn’t scare me, but there was something eerily unsettling about these ruins. I later dug up old Japanese articles which confirmed that indeed these were due to the bubble.

[gorotv]

The main cause of the ruins of Kinugawa Onsen is over-optimization for the temporary phenomenon of the group travel boom. As explained in the video, during the bubble era, corporate group travel was popular, so Kinugawa Onsen built hotels specifically for group travel. They were equipped with huge banquet halls to accommodate large groups for meals, and aesthetically unrefined guest rooms. But the bubble burst and the group travel boom ended. Families and couples began to visit ryokans and hotels with more sophisticated rooms and smaller bathrooms that evoked nature and history. Kurokawa Onsen is a representative of this trend and is now an international tourist attraction for its natural and historical landscape in harmony with nature, in stark contrast to the ruins of Kinugawa Onsen.

[kudoista]

Kinugawa onsen was the first place I worked at in Japan back in 1988. I worked at the New Okabe Hotel and the Kinugawa Kanko hotel. The place was booming back then. Some great memories.
I returned there for a bike ride last year thinking it would be nostalgic, only to find the New Okabe hotel, which had been the biggest in the area, was gone, and the whole town just seemed completely different . I was shocked and disoriented and came away feeling disappointed.
The mountain roads up to the nearby ski resort were still a blast though😊

[DeejayTangy]

Thanks for shedding light on the rural areas and prefectures of Japan. Just like most foreign tourists, I went to the most populated cities, but every time I go back now I prefer the less travelled locations, by way of car. You really get to see the countryside, the actual culture of the people, and way of life.

[jif.]

I was at Kinugawa Onsen in the fall of 2023, and I loved it. I stayed at the Hotel New Oruri for $28 a night which I thought was great. The bottom floor had a outdoor onsen right next to Kinugawa (Kinu River), and the atmosphere was amazing, hearing the river flowing just a few feet away. The train station, and surrounding businesses looked very well maintain and clean. I don't recall seeing any of these abandoned resorts. They were obviously on streets I did not walk on. I went to visit my mother's hometown of Ashio for nostalgia sake. This used to be a copper mining town, but the mines closed decades ago, and this town is basically a ghost town, with mostly a few oldtimers left. This video was very eye opening. I just assumed all onsen towns were bustling. I was wrong. Thank you for the enlightenment.

[winterx]

Omg i feel so bad for these abandoned buildings! I stayed near Kinugawa Onsen in Nikko and I absolutely loved it! Nikko feels like Kyoto but more classical vibes but with 30% less tourists! And it’s only 2 hours away more or less from Tokyo! It felt very calm and peaceful there with onsens everywhere to relax you! If you’re in Nikko, please visit Kinugawa onsen area as well as Toshogu shrine area, Kegon Falls and Chuzenji lake! Magical places!

[timmontano]

The easiest way to overcome this would be for the Japanese tourism department would be to market these run down locations as Japanese GHOST TOWNS.

Here in Arizona, we have Ghost Towns that get many tourists just because they are Ghost Towns.

[jaclynconti]

I think me personally, when I was doing massive research into areas to visit back when my husband and I came in 2019, was the fear of their being a big language barrier. We were afraid of not knowing how to read signs well enough or have efficient conversation to ask for things or know where to go. I wish I knew more about these places then because we love to go off the beaten path. I hope we can come again in the future to see these places gain new life.

[笑い男-zj]

One factor is that the practice of group travel is not as common in Japan as it once was.
In many of these declining places, the clientele were originally not primarily individual travelers, but rather groups such as corporate comfort travelers.
And since these places are private land, the state and local land itself cannot manage them without buying up the land itself.

[edcotterjr]

I was stationed in MIsawa for 6 months with my Navy squadron. Still have fond memories of the area. Shocking to see the abandonment of many buildings you documented. It was not like that in the 70s.

[jhbrown]

I have been to Japan four times and it's my opinion a lot of the tourist problems is poor marketing by local tourist boards and the government. Japan has the best transport infrastructure in the world. It is so easy to go from the very northern parts to the very southern islands using, on time, trains and ferries.
Most Americans have no idea about the beautiful tropical clean beaches, Alpine skiing. fascinating museums, historic castles, grand temples etc. outside of Tokyo and Kyoto.

[BloodySparrow]

When me and my wife went to Japan in 2019 we definitely saw Western tourists drop off sharply once we got farther West than Kyoto. When we went to Kobe we saw almost no tourists. Which surprised me. When we went to Hyoe Koyokaku onsen north of Kobe I'm pretty sure we were the only foreigners in the entire hotel. When we went to Hiroshima we saw an uptick of western tourists but you could tell that they didn't get nearly as many tourists there outside of the memorial and people were super friendly and helpful to us.

[blusenstute]

Thank you so much for this important video! It is so sad to see that beautiful place rotting 😥

[uliseki]

I live on the Noto peninsula and you see it here so much, too. Abounded buildings that have been left behind with everything still in it..After the earthquake even more people left. There are simply almost just very old people left here. They can’t keep up with taking care of everything. It’s a sad spiral…

[Msal]

Been to Japan 4 times. There's so much more to Japan than just Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. Kobe, Sapporo, Otaru, Okinawa, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Sendai, Kanazawa, Nagoya, Kumamoto, and Shizuoka are all excellent destinations. There's probably more that I haven't mentioned too.

[creativepicnl]

Whenever I took the Shinkansen i often wondered what it would look like between stops. Basically flying over the rails does make you miss out on a whole lot. We've been doing the 'big route', enjoyed Tokyo very much and now we just want more Japan to explore. We know that there is a lot and we should just go out and see for ourselves. Great video Alyssa! I'm also a big fan of Exploring with Josh since the time he once visited Nara Dreamland. If you haven't seen that one I really recommend it!

[konadora]

I love Japan so much that I spent the last 15 years learning Japanese on my own, and have been visiting all the rural and less-travelled areas across Japan. From the Old Nakasendo Route, to Hinohara in Tokyo, Tateyama and Katsuura in Chiba, Kesennuma and Rikuzentakata in Miyagi and Iwate respectively, Oga in Akita, and even Oma in Aomori... just so many beautiful and unique places all across Japan, and yet its so sad to see tourists going ONLY to the 3 major cities (not even the entire prefecture of Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo) and calling it a day when it comes to Japan... tourists really should be more open to exploring totally new places even if they aren't the most familiar or ease to go to, and likewise, the government really needs to do more in terms of foreign tourism support for people who don't speak/understand Japanese and more importantly, increasing accessibility!

For everyone who wants to support these rural places that are heavily underserved, try to spend a few days to support the local inns and hotels, try to eat at local diners, pick up some Japanese, and pay in cash to help in any way! It really does help! The people in these places are extremely nice and very friendly and respectful!

[missrainartwork]

This is sad…I miss japan, I was around at Odawaras beach and I love Kita kamakura ☺️💜 I didn’t like how full Tokyo was, it’s 10 years ago, can’t imagine how full it is today. I love the rural nature side of Japan much more than the Citys.

[whushaw]

This feels right out of a movie but it's the reality. It makes you wonder what the people's stories were of the empty buildings and the lives they used to live in their community. It was great to see there are still hotels, onsen, and tourists still visiting there! I definitely agree the overtourism is going too far and I wish hidden gems in other areas of Japan were highlighted much more. 💜

[abrahamalatorre]

Great video and an open eye to those interested learning more about Japan than only Kyoto, Tokyo, and Osaka cities. I do believe the country has a lot more to offer such as small hidden local places and gems, places where people either overlook or don't have that curiosity learning more. I am a solo traveler and as for me aside of checking out the touristy spots, I value learning more of the country as a whole by going to the locals and hearing their personal experiences.

And also really admiring the surrounding places along experiencing views that are not shown or mentioned. I am already making my effort watching these videos along checking out other places outside the golden triangle for this year's trip. I have yet to walk around the spots where the locals live and see how different it is in comparison to the touristy spots that are so close yet very different views. Thanks for sharing this clip, Alysa right? I hope I got your name right.