Criticism is rising that the tax revenue from Japan's "International Tourist Tax," which was raised starting last month, is being used for measures such as catching bears rather than its original purpose.
The Asahi Shimbun reported that the departure tax, introduced to improve tourism environments for foreign visitors to Japan, is being used for bear countermeasures and cherry blossom pest control projects.
The departure tax is collected when leaving Japan, usually added to the price of airline or ship tickets bound for overseas.
Starting on the 1st of last month, Japan tripled the departure tax from 1,000 yen to 3,000 yen.
Japan previously stated that the tax hike would increase this year's revenue by 81 billion yen compared to the previous year, and that this revenue increase would be used as a financial resource for overtourism countermeasures caused by the surge in foreign tourists.
The Asahi Shimbun pointed out that the increased revenue from the departure tax was used for countermeasures such as capturing bears and conducting ecological surveys, which have been occurring frequently in Japan recently.
Of the 6.2 billion yen allocated for this project, 6 billion yen came from the increase in departure tax revenue.
Similarly, for the cherry tree pest control project, the newly organized budget of 600 million yen is planned to be entirely funded by the departure tax.
The Japanese Ministry of the Environment explained that foreigners could potentially suffer from bear damage, meaning the measures benefit tourists visiting Japan as well, and that many tourists visit Japan to see cherry blossoms.
The Asahi Shimbun countered by pointing out that damage caused by bear sightings has a greater impact on daily life than on tourist destinations, and added that cherry tree pest control also appears unrelated to inbound tourists.
Reported by Kim Taewon | Video by Lee Yujin | Graphics by Lee Sumin | Produced by SBS Digital News
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