NIKKO, Tochigi -- Many destinations in Tochigi Prefecture, including Nikko, are working to promote tourism there ahead of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2020.
Businesses in the prefecture are aiming to utilize such features as the nearness of many tourism sites to Tokyo and the appeal of Nikko's shrines and temples, a group of spots that have been designated as a World Heritage site.
The Tochigi prefectural government has set a goal of increasing the aggregate number of visitors to about 97 million by 2020, 10 million higher than the 2014 figure. This spring, the prefectural government will begin the "Destination Campaign," a large-scale tourism promotion project.
Oscar Witmeur, a 24-year-old tourist from Denmark, and Alexandra Cooley, a 35-year-old visitor from the United States, said they'd wanted to try sake when they visited Japan. They enjoyed it at Bar de nikko Kujira Shokudo, a restaurant in Nikko's Kamihatsuishimachi district.
They met and hit it off when they were traveling in Britain, and so came to Japan together. When they were in Tokyo, another foreign tourist told them it was better to visit the temples and shrines at the World Heritage site, so they visited Nikko on a weeklong trip.
They searched for restaurants on the internet, and found Bar de nikko Kujira Shokudo, which is close to a guesthouse where they were staying and has an English menu.
Bar de nikko Kujira Shokudo was opened in July 2014 by Hideyuki Ueno, 47. He began the business after he noticed the conspicuous increase in foreign tourists in the city.
"Nowadays, about 80 percent of my restaurant's customers are from overseas," Ueno said. The restaurant serves cocktails in which sake is mixed with soda and other drinks, so it's easier for foreigners to drink the Japanese alcohol.
Nighttime options
Some visitors to Japan appear dissatisfied by the nighttime options for dining and entertainment.
The Tochigi prefectural government invited about 100 foreigners over a year to tourist spots in the prefecture and asked for their opinions. Some who replied said there were only a small number of places near hotels that foreign tourists could enjoy at night.
Oscar said Nikko is a friendly destination for foreign tourists because many stores and restaurants are also open at night.
Tochigi Prefecture is in a convenient location because it's accessible by the Shinkansen and expressway. Because the prefecture is not far travel-wise from the Tokyo metropolitan area, many tourists visit spots in the prefecture on day trips.
But there is a big difference between the benefits to the local economy from day-trippers and from people who stay at hotels or inns in the prefecture for at least one night.
According to the prefectural government's survey on tourism trends in fiscal 2016, people who stayed in accommodations in the prefecture for at least one night spent 23,544 yen per person on average. That was about four times the 6,044 yen spent by day-trippers.
People related to the prefecture's tourism industry have been working on how to increase the number of tourists who stay at least one night.
In the city of Nikko, fewer tourists have been staying overnight in recent years in the old city area, where Nikko Toshogu shrine and Lake Chuzenji are located. According to the prefectural government's data, a total of about 1.33 million people stayed in Nikko's old city area at least one night in 2008. That number has been on the decline since 2011, when the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred, and fell to about 1.24 million in 2016.
In contrast, the number of foreign tourists who stayed at least one night in the prefecture has increased, rising from about 15,000 in 2011 to about 55,000 in 2016. Many of these visitors have been from other parts of Asia, such as Taiwan and Thailand.
While the overall number of tourists who stay at least overnight in the prefecture as a whole has been falling, the percentage of foreign tourists has been sharply rising. But research by Ashigin Research Institute indicates that only about 40 percent of all inbound foreign tourists visit and stay overnight in Tochigi Prefecture.
Yoshiro Soma, 48, a senior research fellow of the institute said, "Ideas such as setting tourism routes for enjoying the natural environment in Nikko are necessary, so we can make tourists feel that just one day is not enough."
Ueno of Bar de nikko Kujira Shokudo restaurant said, "If things are made more convenient, through actions like increasing the number of restaurants that are open late at night, surely even more tourists will want to stay at least one night in Nikko."
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