Since its reopening to international travellers in the fall of 2022, Japan is experiencing a tourism boom. The weak local currency, which has dropped a third over the last three years, has boosted the phenomenon even more, which, in turn, has furhter increased inflation. In this context, restaurants are taking measures – not by charging tourists more, but by charging locals less.
Even though it might seem discriminating, differential pricing is legal in Japan. It is up to restaurants to decide whether or not they want to charge a different price to locals and tourists, as long as the two-tiered pricing is clearly advertised. Many establishments in Japan have adopted the method, saying they’re offering a discount to locals instead of setting higher prices for tourists.
Measuring inflation in Japan by the years of grease scrubbed off the menu items on the wall of my favorite yakiniku restaurant to change the prices. pic.twitter.com/24RVYWwBvM
— David Caprara (@Caprarad) June 28, 2023
There are multiple reasons for the two-tier pricing. First of all, with so many international tourists (17.78 million in the first half of 2024), locals might shy away from visiting their favourite restaurants. Offering them a discount could persuade them to come back and thus, in the long run, remain loyal cutomers. Secondly, serving international visitors who don’t speak Japanese requires a lot of extra effort. Waiters don’t just need to learn English, they often also need to explain the difference between dishes and the way of consuming them.
“People say it’s discrimination, but it is really hard for us to serve foreigners, and it is beyond our capacity,” Shogo Yonemitsu, the owner of Tamatebako, an all-you-can-eat seafood grill in Shibuya, told CNN. “We need (this pricing system) for cost reasons. Some people say, ‘We don’t do this in our country.’ But think about how bad Japanese people’s English skills are. We aren’t at that level where we can call ourselves a tourism powerhouse yet. We just can’t speak English, and yet we can’t say the wrong things. It’s really stressful.”
Therefore, Yonemitsu for example offers locals a 1,000 yen (€6) discount. Others, instead, add ‘fancy’ variants of local dishes to their menu. Tourists with the means to pay up will be drawn to these, while local restaurant-goers can enjoy their regular favourites at the regular price.
The two-tiered pricing isn’t the only measure taken in Japan in response to the major tourist influx. A climbing fee has been imposed on Mount Fuji’s most popular trail, a tourist tax introduced on the iconic floating red torii gate of Itsukushima and a resort town in the foothills of Mount Fuji has decided to block its views of the mountain to avoid flocks of tourists and thereby the litter they leave behind.
