A weak yen is attracting more visitors than ever to Japan, with national tourism figures for 2024, released Wednesday, expected to top 2019’s record of nearly 32 million.
But that is also raising prices for Kojima’s staff and other Japanese business travellers.
Capsule hotels, a Japanese institution, offer claustrophobic bed-sized pods, often double-stacked in rows.
They have a “shabby” reputation, Kojima said, so he found a more comfortable establishment that boasts high-end mattresses and a TV in each capsule.
“It’s clean, convenient and has a traditional shared bath house. My employees say it’s fun,” he told AFP.
A night in a standard capsule there starts at 5,000 yen ($30) — but its rates are rising, according to Kojima.
It is still cheaper than a basic private room at a business hotel, which in the Japanese capital cost 20,048 yen ($130) on average in November.
That’s up from the pre-pandemic peak of 12,926 yen ($80 at today’s rates) in April 2019, shows research by Tokyo Hotel Kai, a group of around 200 hotels.
“I’m happy there are so many visitors to Japan, but I’m agonising every day about finding a flexible way” to run the business, said Kojima, who needs to bring around 20 to 30 employees to the capital for company-wide meetings.
‘What do I do?’
The Japanese economy benefits from the surge in foreign tourists because it creates jobs and the visitors spend money, analyst Takuto Yasuda of NLI Research Institute said.
“But it has a negative impact as well, such as Japanese people not being able to travel, or their daily lives being affected by overtourism,” he told AFP.
