Photo/Illutration From the official website of the Consumer Hotline for Tourists

Foreign tourists are increasingly seeking consultations for problems they’ve encountered in Japan, including smaller-than-expected hotel rooms, fake brand goods and being charged more than Japanese customers for the same service.

According to the National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan (NCAC), its Consumer Hotline for Tourists received a record 388 calls for consultations in fiscal 2024, up by 161 from fiscal 2023 and shattering the previous high of 264 set in fiscal 2019.

The NCAC established the hotline in December 2018. It currently accepts calls in seven languages: English, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, French and Japanese.

In fiscal 2024, 59.5 percent of the callers, or 231, were Chinese speakers, followed by 97 English speakers (25 percent), 39 Japanese speakers (10.1 percent), and 19 Korean speakers (4.9 percent).

The calls made in Japanese came from foreigners who can speak the language or from Japanese acquaintances of the tourists.

The most common complaint topic was accommodation facilities, accounting for 27 percent of the calls.

Callers said they found garbage and hair left in their guest rooms, and that their rooms were smaller than they looked in the photos on booking websites. They also said their purchased goods were broken after their luggage was handled roughly.

Others complained about dual pricing at restaurants, saying they were asked to pay a service fee of up to 20 percent of the bill just because they were from overseas.

Some noted that prices in Japanese menus were 10- to 20-percent lower than the prices in foreign-language menus.

At least one caller said restaurants should tell customers in advance that they cannot take leftovers home.

Callers also complained about the supposed healthy foods they bought at duty-free shops on bus tours. Others asked how to return or demand refunds for luxury brand bags that turned out to be fakes.

The hotline accepts calls between 10 a.m. and noon and between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. on weekdays, except Dec. 29 through Jan. 3.

The phone number is 03-5449-0906.

The official website (https://www.cht.kokusen.go.jp/ja/) lists advice on frequently asked questions and helpful tips.

RECORD TOURIST NUMBERS

The rise in complaints should come as no surprise, given the constant increase in visitor numbers.

According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, about 24.96 million tourists from abroad visited Japan between January and July this year, up by 18.4 percent from the same period the previous year.

The largest group, at 5.69 million, came from China, followed by 5.46 million South Koreans, 3.89 million Taiwanese and 1.98 million Americans.

For all of 2024, Japan welcomed about 36.87 million visitors, marking a significant increase of 47.1 percent from the year earlier, and exceeding previous record of 31.88 million set in 2019 by nearly 5 million.

Spending by foreign tourists also reached a record 8.13 trillion yen ($54.99 billion) in 2024, according to a survey conducted by the Japan Tourism Agency.

Chinese visitors spent the most, at 1.73 trillion yen, followed by tourists from Taiwan (1.09 trillion yen), South Korea (960.2 billion yen), the United States (901.1 billion yen) and Hong Kong (660.6 billion yen).

These five countries and regions accounted for 65.7 percent of total spending by inbound tourists.

Each visitor spent an average of 227,000 yen during their trip, including 77,000 yen on accommodation, 66,000 yen on shopping and 49,000 yen on wining and dining.

The government has set a goal of attracting 60 million visitors and generating 15 trillion yen in tourism spending by 2030.

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