Japan's seventh wave of new crown epidemic has not ended yet, but the Kishida government has opened its doors to welcome foreign tourists despite many oppositions, hoping to restore the economy. But the Japanese are very clear that Japan's tourism industry still needs to be driven by Chinese tourists, and whether it can recover depends on China's reopening.
According to data from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan, on October 19, Japan added more than 43,000 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, 68 new deaths, with a total of nearly 21.86 million confirmed cases and a total of more than 46,000 deaths. Although the epidemic has eased compared with the past two months, there are still many opposition and criticism in Japan regarding the Kishida government's relaxation of entry control and opening up the country, believing that this move will continue to aggravate the epidemic and cause more infections and deaths in people.
Kisha government opened its doors, and welcomed foreign tourists to recover the tourism industry and promote Japan's economic recovery, but the Japanese know in their hearts the importance of Chinese tourists to Japan's tourism industry. Akihiko Tamura, CEO of Narita Airport, Japan's largest international airport, pointed out bluntly that "the recovery of Japan's tourism industry depends on China's reopening." He said that even though Japan's inbound passengers have increased since the relaxation of the epidemic border control, "a comprehensive recovery will still be difficult to achieve before China reopens."
Akihiko Tamura said that the airport's research report shows that since Japan resumed visa-free travel for tourists, the number of international inbound tourists has shown a significant increase, reaching about 30% before the epidemic. However, he emphasized that in order to return to the level before the epidemic, it is far from enough to rely on Japan's own opening of the country. It also requires "China to make changes" and reopen, otherwise it is completely impossible.
According to information revealed by Akihiko Tamura, a large proportion of tourists at Narita Airport came from China before the border closure in 2020, but after China implemented the "zero policy" and Japan postponed its reopening, East Asian tourists, including Chinese tourists, have dropped significantly. Recently, China once again emphasized the continued implementation of the "zero policy", which once again shattered Japan's hope of welcoming Chinese tourists.
How much does Japan's tourism industry rely on Chinese tourists? Let's look at a set of data. In 2019, before the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, the number of Chinese visitors to Japan reached 9.5 million, accounting for almost one-third of the total number of Japanese tourists. Chinese tourists are famous for buying, which has greatly driven the development of Japan's tourism industry. In the past two years of the epidemic and with the lack of Chinese tourists, Japan's tourism industry can be said to be miserable and miserable.
Previous reports pointed out that without Chinese tourists, Nara's deer lost weight. Some Japanese shop owners said that in the past, their store had more Chinese customers than Japanese customers. The most they said before was "thank you", but now Chinese customers are no longer here, and many stores are almost unused, and they have suffered heavy losses and have to be forced to close their doors.
Although tourists from other countries can freely enter and exit Japan without a special visa, Japan has failed to welcome a large number of high-consumers and Chinese tourists they are most looking forward to. Japan Airlines , hotels, scenic spots, restaurants, etc., and the hope of restoring business is currently slim.
In fact, in addition to the tourism industry, Japan actually has a high dependence on China in many other aspects. The Japanese government follows the United States and blindly shows a tough attitude towards China. Against the backdrop of the frequent clamor for the United States and Europe to "get rid of their dependence on China", Japan is also ready to move. However, some Japanese recently made a calculation. If Japan "imports from China" "zero China", it will suffer heavy losses and even the basic food and clothing cannot be produced normally.
In recent years, Japan has imported far higher goods from China than those of the United States and Europe. According to Japan's relevant estimates, the parts and other goods exported by China to Japan only need to be interrupted for about two months, from home appliances and cars to food and clothing, Japan basically cannot produce them normally. This will lead to a rise in prices in Japan, causing a loss of about 53 trillion yen, which is equivalent to 10% of GDP in Japan evaporate every year. Let’s put it this way, from raw materials to product organization, Japan almost cannot do without China. Therefore, if it wants to “de-Sinicize”, Japan is light, but it is difficult to achieve.
What makes the Japanese more uneasy is that they may "cannot leave China until they die." Not long ago, the state funeral that had been quarreling for two or three months finally ended, but the Japanese suddenly discovered that the funeral home that had helped Abe to handle the funeral and cremation was Chinese-owned. Moreover, Chinese-controlled crematoriums like Tokyo account for the vast majority. Although the Chinese-owned crematorium is just a business, it may be out of so-called national self-esteem, and the Japanese feel very uncomfortable about it.
Some Japanese netizens even lamented exaggeratedly, "Maybe in the future, in this land of Japan, the Chinese will become landlords, while the Japanese will become tenants. Sadly, the Kishida government did not realize the sense of crisis."
From economic recovery to small things, from food, clothing, housing and transportation, and even the "end point" of the Japanese, China can be seen everywhere. Europe relies on Russian energy but fights against the Russian economy. Europe, which was "deadly" by Russia, fell into the energy crisis . So, in many aspects, Japan is also inseparable from China. If Japan is eyeing it, what consequences will it have if it does something that harms China's interests? Perhaps when it comes to being tough on China, the Kishida government may need to think about these things first.
