- Biden-Netanyahu to talk as Hezbollah, Israeli forces clash
- France vows to step up drugs fight after police vehicles torched
- Air France says jet flew over Iraq during Iran attack on Israel
- Activists target Picasso work to protest Israel arms sales
- Let 'Emily in Paris' remain in Paris, Macron says
- Global stocks diverge as Chinese shares tumble
- Time runs out in Florida to flee Hurricane Milton
- Chad issues warning ahead of more devastating floods
- Record-breaking Root helps England dominate Pakistan in first Test
- German govt sees economy shrinking again in 2024
- Ex-UK soldier denies passing secrets to Iran intelligence
- Creator's death no bar to new 'Dragon Ball' products
- Three Kosovo Serbs on trial over 'secession plot' attack
- Van Gogh museum to launch Impressionism show
- French minister ups ante in Eiffel Tower Olympic rings row
- Japan PM calls snap election to 'create a new Japan'
- German police shut pro-Palestinian camp over Thunberg invite
- Chinese stocks tumble on lack of fresh stimulus
- Trio wins chemistry Nobel for protein design, prediction
- SE Asian summit urges end to Myanmar violence but struggles for solutions
- Wimbledon replaces line judges with electronic system
- Record-breaking Root hits hundred as England power to 351-3
- Record-breaking Root hits hundred as England's power to 351-3
- Sabalenka relishes 'much-needed' tennis rivalry with Swiatek
- Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson set for six weeks out
- Taylor Swift got police escort to London gigs after Austria terror plot
- Cook tips Root to break Tendulkar's all-time runs record
- British skull auction sparks Indian demand for return
- Joe Root: England's elegant Test record-breaker
- Braving war: Lebanon's 'badass' airline defies odds
- Klopp to return as head of Red Bull football operations
- Hezbollah strikes Israel, says it foiled Israeli incursions
- Jurgen Klopp to return as head of Red Bull football operations
- Sinner to face Medvedev in Shanghai Masters quarter-finals
- US weighs Google breakup in landmark trial
- Record-breaking Root guides England to 232-2 in reply to Pakistan's 556
- Japan PM dissolves parliament for 'honeymoon' snap election
- Chinese stocks tumble on stimulus upset, Asia tracks Wall St higher
- 7-Eleven owner confirms new takeover offer from Couche-Tard
- Goodbye Tito? Tomb at risk as Serbs argue over Yugoslav legacy
- Restoration experts piece together silent Sherlock Holmes mystery
- Sinner avoids Shanghai deja vu with assured Shelton win
- Pyongyang to 'permanently' shut border with South Korea
- Trumpet star Marsalis says jazz creates 'balance' in divided world
- No children left on Greece's famed but emptying island
- Nepali becomes youngest to climb world's 8,000m peaks
- Climate change made deadly Hurricane Helene more intense: study
- A US climate scientist sees hurricane Helene's devastation firsthand
- Padres edge Dodgers, Mets on the brink
- Can carbon credits help close coal plants?
GSK | -0.03% | 38.01 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.17% | 24.81 | $ | |
SCS | 2.14% | 13.06 | $ | |
NGG | -0.43% | 65.62 | $ | |
BTI | 0.28% | 35.32 | $ | |
AZN | -0.16% | 76.75 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.28% | 24.64 | $ | |
RIO | -1.26% | 65.83 | $ | |
RYCEF | -1.01% | 6.9 | $ | |
JRI | 0.45% | 13.22 | $ | |
BCC | 0.87% | 143.27 | $ | |
BCE | 0.27% | 33.6 | $ | |
RELX | -0.18% | 46.555 | $ | |
BP | -0.69% | 31.81 | $ | |
RBGPF | -2.48% | 59.33 | $ | |
VOD | 0.26% | 9.685 | $ |
Weak yen boosts tourist wallets in Japan
Foreign tourists are flocking to Japan in record numbers and thanks to a sliding yen many are living like kings, splashing out on everything from kimonos to knives and slap-up meals.
"I bought three pairs of shoes, which is something I would never normally do," French tourist Katia Lelievre, 36, said with a laugh in the bustling Asakusa area of Tokyo famous for its Buddhist temple and souvenir shops.
The brands available in Japan are the same as in Europe -- Converse, Nike and Adidas -- but because of the exchange rate "it was really worth it" to buy, she told AFP.
"The food is really cheap. (I spent a lot) especially on food. I tried everything I wanted," Dominique Stabile, 31, visiting from Italy, told AFP.
"I had a budget set and I didn't exceed it, so I'm happy."
Local businesses are also benefitting.
"A lot of people do the math and when they see the equivalent in their country's currency they say: 'Wow, I'm going to buy that too'," said Saori Iida, who works in a shop selling traditional second-hand Japanese clothes.
"Yesterday, we had someone who bought 15 kimonos," she said.
"Thanks to the weak yen, foreign customers are buying a lot of handmade knives, even as prices rise," said Yuki Suzuki, 21, who works in a shop selling knives, another tourist favourite.
"I feel like there are now more customers who want to own sets and buy a little more, for example several blades made by the same craftsman," she told AFP.
- Very reasonable ramen -
In March the monthly number of foreign visitors surpassed three million for the first time, up 11.6 percent from March 2019 before the Covid pandemic torpedoed tourism.
Spending per head soared 52 percent over the first three months compared to the same year.
Currency movements help explain why. In 2019 a dollar bought 112 yen, compared to almost 158 on Wednesday, a 34-year low. On Monday it briefly hit 160.
A bowl of ramen noodles costs around 1,000 yen, which in 2019 was around $8.90 and is now $6.30.
A luxury watch or handbag labelled at 700,000 yen in Tokyo now costs the equivalent $4,430, a snip compared to $6,250 five years ago.
Many shops exempt tourists from Japan's 10-percent sales tax if they show their passport.
The biggest spenders per capita are Australians followed by visitors from Britain and Spain, according to the Japanese tourism agency.
- 'Great value' -
The slide in the currency is blamed in part on the Bank of Japan's maverick policy of ultra-low interest rates while other central banks have hiked theirs.
Japanese household consumption has been in constant decline since March 2023, due to inflation -- the weak yen makes imports pricier -- weakening purchasing power.
Some Japanese are also unhappy about the invasion of big-spending tourists, thronging stores and clogging up their favourite restaurants. One town plans to put up a barrier blocking the view of Mount Fuji.
Visitors are "getting great value for money," said Akiko Kohsaka, an economist at the Japan Research Institute and an expert on tourism.
"It may mean tourists may choose to stay at better hotels than usual, or stay in Japan for an extra day or buy brand items," she told AFP.
"Even with sandwiches or hamburgers -- things that visitors can buy at home -- they can sense that they would not get that kind of value for their money at home," Kohsaka added.
"I think Japan can have confidence in itself as a tourism destination. Even if the yen reverses its trend, I do not think it would lead to sharp falls of spending by tourists."
D.Kaufman--AMWN