Why Hiking Japan’s International Tourist Departure Tax Is Nonsense

Japan’s International Tourist Tax (also known as the departure tax), which currently levies a flat 1,000 yen on everyone leaving Japan, will be raised to 3,000 yen from July.

I have entered and left Japan more than 20 times in 2025 alone. While I recognize how important it is to tackle overtourism, I feel that there is no point in hiking the “departure tax” – it is simply nonsense.

In this column, I would like to take another close look at the “departure tax” and discuss what it should really be like.

What Is the International Tourist Tax (Departure Tax)?

The International Tourist Tax, commonly referred to as the “departure tax,” was introduced in 2019. Aimed at securing financial resources to expand and strengthen Japan’s tourism infrastructure in order to become a leading tourism-oriented country, it imposes a 1,000‑yen charge per international departure on tourists and other international travelers. Many other countries have introduced similar taxes, although the amounts vary.

For example, in the United Kingdom, an Air Passenger Duty is imposed. For flights to Japan, the current duty is 94 pounds (around 19,000 yen) for economy class, and 224 pounds (around 45,000 yen) for premium cabins such as business class.

Tax revenues from the International Tourist Tax are stipulated to be allocated to three areas: (1) development of a stress‑free and comfortable travel environment, (2) making it easier to obtain information on Japan’s diverse attractions, and (3) improving satisfaction with local experiential stays through the development of tourism resources that utilize region‑specific culture, nature, and other assets.

Specifically, examples given include: “Enhancing the functions of biometric identification systems using cutting‑edge technology and speeding up immigration procedures to improve convenience for inbound travelers to Japan,” “Improving the convenience of electronic declaration gates,” “Carrying out strategic inbound promotion,” “Developing environments that utilize cultural assets for inbound tourism,” and “Improving environments in national parks for inbound visitors.”

The Current State of Overtourism in Japan

I believe Japan’s tourism industry is currently facing several problems related to overtourism.

One is the waiting time at immigration for foreign visitors. Precisely because citizens of many countries can enter Japan without a visa, the foreign‑passport lanes at immigration in major airports are often congested. Introducing pre‑clearance systems like those used in the United States, Canada, and Australia to speed up immigration procedures for foreign nationals is an urgent task.

At domestic tourist destinations crowded with foreign visitors, I also feel that waste and litter problems are often becoming more serious. In Europe, North America, Australia, and similar regions, it is common to find trash bins along the streets, but in Japan, where trash bins are scarce, illegal dumping of garbage in places other than authorized bins is not uncommon. Roughly two‑thirds of municipalities nationwide charge for garbage collection (according to Ministry of the Environment data on fee‑based collection of household waste, excluding bulky waste), and if trash bins are installed in tourist areas, they face a dilemma: how to reconcile fee‑based household collection with free public trash bins at tourist sites.

Another issue is the polarization between tourist destinations bustling with inbound visitors and regions that are not. Major cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka, as well as cities with many direct international flights, convenient access, or high name recognition overseas, are attracting a large share of tourists, while cities with only a few international routes find it difficult to benefit from inbound demand.

It is abundantly clear that, given the variety of challenges and regional characteristics, multifaceted measures are needed. There are limits to what the private sector can do on its own; national and local governments need to tackle these issues tenaciously.

Can Overtourism Really Be Addressed by Hiking the Departure Tax?

“Overtourism” is a single word, but it actually encompasses a wide range of issues. Some are matters that governments should address, while others are problems faced by businesses or the wider private sector that public authorities struggle to solve. Can we really find a path toward resolving these issues simply by raising the departure tax? I have serious doubts.

Moreover, even if one could accept imposing such an “overtourism countermeasure” tax on foreign visitors entering Japan, it is hard to find any convincing rationale for securing financial resources by increasing a “departure tax” that also applies to residents of Japan when they leave the country.

Hiking the Departure Tax Pours Cold Water on Overseas Travel by Japanese Residents

In March 2025, the Japan Tourism Agency, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) jointly issued the “More Trips Overseas! Declaration,” announcing that they would work to promote outbound travel by Japanese residents.

It is no exaggeration to say that Japan’s travel industry has long been supported by overseas travel, which tends to be higher‑yield than domestic trips. In his 2025 New Year’s message, Hiroyuki Takahashi, chairman of JATA (formerly of JTB), stated clearly: “As for overseas travel, recovery has been slow due to factors such as the weak yen and soaring travel costs, and it still remains a little over 60 percent of the 2019 level. (…) As a travel industry, we must accelerate our efforts to achieve a full recovery in overseas travel this year.” The need to revive demand for overseas travel is well recognized within the industry.

Unless the difficult social problem of overtourism can actually be solved, a policy of raising the departure tax as an “overtourism tax hike” will do nothing more than reinforce the perception among Japanese residents that overseas travel has become even more expensive.

In the End, Hiking the Departure Tax Is Nonsense

As a measure against “overtourism,” hiking the “departure tax” is questionable in terms of whether it can quickly resolve the underlying social problems of “overtourism,” brings no clear benefits to residents of Japan, and will likely be a negative event for the travel industry by putting a damper on the recovery of outbound travel.

In reality, the cost of overseas travel remains high (according to JTB estimates, the average per‑person cost of an overseas trip in 2025 is 334,100 yen), and an increase of a few thousand yen in the departure tax may not look like a major change when viewed strictly as a number. However, there is no doubt that it is a negative factor in that it reinforces the impression that overseas travel is overpriced.

Ultimately, I have to conclude that hiking the “departure tax” is nonsense and that it is difficult to find any real meaning in it. If demand for overseas travel from Japan – long a major income source for the domestic tourism industry – declines, it will chill the entire tourism sector.

Contrary to the slogan “More Trips Overseas!”, it looks like it may actually become harder to go abroad.