Japan Tourism Agency identifies foreign tourists' top complaint

Foreign tourists in Japan most often complain about one specific problem they would gladly see fixed if they could. According to a new official survey conducted by the Japan Tourism Agency, more than 20% of respondents named the lack of public rubbish bins as the most inconvenient part of their trip.

The study was conducted from December 2024 to January 2025 at the country's five largest airports: Fukuoka, Haneda, Kansai, Narita, and New Chitose. More than 4,000 departing passengers took part in the survey. Almost 22% of them said the shortage of bins, especially in high-traffic areas such as train stations, caused them the most frustration.

Few bins and strict rules on waste disposal

As in some other countries, rubbish bins have been removed from public spaces in Japan in recent years for security reasons. The main reason was the threat of terrorist attacks — this year marks 30 years since the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway.

In addition, there is a strict policy against littering: fines and other penalties apply for disposing of rubbish in the wrong place. Locals have long grown used to taking their waste home with them, but for tourists this has proven unexpected and inconvenient. Nevertheless, the level of complaints on this topic fell by 8% compared with the previous year.

Language barrier and tourist crowding

The language barrier ranked second among the most common difficulties — more than 15% of respondents said that service and tourism staff did not speak English. Overcrowding at popular tourist sites ranked third, cited by 13.1% of those surveyed.

With tourist numbers rising after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, pressure on infrastructure has intensified in Japan. For example, barriers had to be installed at a popular viewpoint of Mount Fuji, as tourists were crossing the road en masse in unsafe spots for photos. Access to some trails on the mountain is now paid, Kyoto is raising its tourist tax, and temples and shrines have even been temporarily closed due to visitors failing to observe proper etiquette.

In 2024, according to another study, about 30% of travellers said they had personally felt the effects of overtourism. Nevertheless, Japanese authorities are sticking to their goal of attracting 60 million foreign visitors by 2030. To achieve this, they plan to improve transport accessibility and promote lesser-known tourist routes.