Originally Posted by
jib71
I think it's hard to predict the impact of changes to rail passes. One possibility is that more people take up regional passes to explore Tohoku or Kyushu... but who knows? In terms of raw numbers, however, I think Japan is going to see more and more visitors, so yeah Kyoto's problems will get worse. The total number of inbound visitors exceeds pre-pandemic levels despite the fact that the number of visitors from mainland China is relatively low.
I agree that the “past performance is no guarantee of future results” warning is more relevant than ever going into the new year.
Whilst I can see and (to an extent) understand the patterns of movement by independent travellers, there is a whole other kind of mass working their way around the country in organised groups. We got a good reminder of what that means when we were in Matsushima to see family this summer. Almost impossible to find somewhere to sit and eat anywhere between Zuiganji Temple and Matsushima Bay with huge queues all around the Fish Market. We took a moment to appreciate that visitor numbers from the mainland hadn’t yet picked up fully and considered ourselves fortunate to have enjoyed the restored temple when we did.
Just as there is a B-Gourmet* category, I’m happy also to form part of the B-Tourist group.
*
https://www.nippon.com/en/features/jg00015/