"Kyoto Really Does Seem to Be Saying 'Don't Come'... Accommodation Tax 10 Times Higher and Bus Fares Doubled for Tourists Only"

Residents 200 Yen, Visitors Up to 400 Yen
Overtourism Response... Accommodation Tax Also Raised Tenfold

Kyoto, one of Japan's leading tourist cities, has decided to push ahead with a plan to charge tourists up to twice as much as residents for city bus fares. As it also plans to sharply raise the accommodation tax, the financial burden on visitors is expected to increase further.

Tourists visiting a Japanese tourist attraction. Reuters, Yonhap News

According to Jiji Press, Kyoto Mayor Koji Matsui stated at a plenary session of the city council on the 25th that the city will introduce differential fares on downtown city buses by distinguishing between residents and non-residents. Under the plan, the current flat fare of 230 yen will be adjusted to 200 yen (about 1,830 won) for residents, while non-resident passengers such as tourists will be charged 350 to 400 yen (about 3,200 to 3,600 won). The new fare system is scheduled to take effect as early as April 2027. Once finalized, the fare for tourists will be about twice that paid by residents.

Kyoto City also plans to raise the accommodation tax from March 1, increasing the current maximum of 1,000 yen (about 9,140 won) per person per night to up to 10,000 yen (about 91,400 won). Although the tax will still be levied on a sliding scale depending on room rates, the top bracket will effectively increase tenfold.

These measures are intended to address the problem of overtourism that has emerged in tandem with a surge in travel demand after COVID-19. According to the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), 42,683,600 foreigners visited Japan last year, an increase of 15.8% compared with the previous record set in 2024. The rapid increase in tourists has led to a series of inconveniences in major cities, including traffic congestion, more garbage, noise, and unauthorized filming in residential areas.

In Kyoto, city bus routes in the downtown area have reportedly become so crowded with tourists that residents are sometimes unable to board during rush hour. If bus fares are differentiated as a response to overtourism, Kyoto is expected to be the first place in Japan to do so.

Many foreigners are waiting for immigration inspection at Tokyo Haneda Airport. Yonhap News Agency

Other regions are also rolling out countermeasures. Across Japan, the number of local governments either newly introducing an accommodation tax or seeking to raise existing rates is rapidly increasing. According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, around 30 municipalities plan to introduce a new accommodation tax this year, nearly double the 17 that had such a tax in place as of the end of last year.

From April, Hokkaido will introduce an accommodation tax of up to 500 yen, and 13 basic municipalities, including Sapporo City, will add their own levies on top. Tokyo Metropolitan Government also plans, in effect, to raise its accommodation tax by switching from the current flat rate of 100 to 200 yen to a proportional system from next year, under which 3% of the room rate will be charged. Separately, the Japanese government plans to triple the International Tourist Tax levied on outbound travelers from 1,000 yen to 3,000 yen per person starting in July.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.