▲ Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan
Japanese media has pointed out that the departure tax, known as the "International Tourist Tax," which the Japanese government tripled starting last month, is being used for projects outside its original purpose.
The Asahi Shimbun reported today (the 24th) that the departure tax, introduced to improve the tourism environment for foreign visitors to Japan, is being used for projects such as bear countermeasures and cherry tree pest control.
The departure tax is collected when leaving Japan, added to the price of tickets for aircraft or ships heading overseas.
Starting on the 1st of last month, Japan raised the departure tax from the previous 1,000 yen (8,700 won) to 3,000 yen (26,000 won).
The government announced plans to use the increased tax revenue resulting from the hike to fund measures against overtourism—pollution caused by excessive tourism—which has emerged as a problem in tourist destinations across Japan due to a surge in foreign tourists.
Due to the departure tax hike, tax revenue this year was projected to increase by 81.0 billion yen (703.6 billion won) compared to the previous year.
As the increased departure tax is also expected to add to the financial burden on Japanese citizens, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs lowered passport issuance fees for citizens.
Asahi reported that the increase in tax revenue, excluding the reduction in passport issuance fees, amounts to 64.6 billion yen (561.1 billion won).
However, the newspaper pointed out that looking at how this 64.6 billion yen was spent reveals many projects whose relevance to tourists is questionable.
According to the report, amid frequent damage caused by bears in Japan recently, the increased revenue from the departure tax has been used starting this year for countermeasures such as capturing bears and conducting ecological surveys.
A total of 6.2 billion yen (538 billion won) was allocated to this project, of which 6.0 billion yen (521 billion won) came from the increased departure tax revenue.
In the case of the cherry tree pest control project, the entire newly organized budget of 600 million yen (5.2 billion won) is scheduled to be covered by the departure tax.
Asahi pointed out, "While there are cases where foreigners suffer damage from bear sightings, the impact is more severe on daily life than on tourist destinations," adding, "Damage caused by the red-necked longhorned beetle, which bores into and kills cherry trees, also appears to have nothing to do with inbound tourists."
In addition, design costs of 130 million yen (1.13 billion yen) for the National Center for the Repair of Cultural Properties, 170 million yen (1.47 billion yen) for maintenance costs of the National Center for Media Arts, and 62 million yen (540 million won) for design costs of the Takamatsuzuka Tumulus mural exhibition facility were all covered by the departure tax.
An official from the Ministry of Finance told Asahi that the reason for diverting the departure tax in this manner is because policies such as free education and the abolition of the provisional gasoline tax rate were implemented without securing the necessary funding.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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