After a record-breaking year for tourist arrivals in 2024, Japan is bracing for another peak in visitors this year.

While the travel industry and the national government are enjoying the post-pandemic economic windfall, there are growing rumblings of discontent among citizens, whose lives are being disrupted by lots of tourists concentrating at key destinations.

Japan saw 36.9 million international visitors in 2024, up 47.1% on the previous year. This surpassed the record of 31.9 million in 2019, immediately before the pandemic put the brakes on travel for leisure.

Now, residents of the "golden route" cities — Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka — are increasingly infuriated by outsiders who often do not follow the customs that are so fundamental to Japanese society.

They say that too many visitors are leaving litter, overwhelming public transport services, drinking on the streets or disrupting residential districts by partying in rental properties late into the night.

The Japanese media has also picked up on a number of incidents that have been particularly shocking, including the case of a US tourist who was arrested for scratching graffiti into a wooden gate at Tokyo's historic Meiji Jingu shrine and........

© Deutsche Welle