Tourists staying overnight in Kyoto will see a significant increase in how much tourist taxes they pay, with rates almost reaching as high as £50 per night.
The Japanese city of Kyoto attracts high volumes of visitors to its historical hub with over a thousand Buddhist temples, notable architecture and gardens, and a traditional geisha culture.
However, trips to Kyoto will now become more expensive as Japan’s Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications announced on Friday 3 October it agreed to a tourism tax increase passed by the Kyoto City Council in March.
The overnight tax, paid per night by guests staying in inns, hotels and lodgings in the city, will see a tenfold increase for the highest bracket tax, while others are doubling and quadrupling.
Currently, the tax is capped at £4.92, but travellers staying in Kyoto could be paying as much as £49.23 by March 2026 when the ordinance is scheduled to come into effect.
The amount of tax paid is determined by how much the accommodation is per person per night (pppn).
- Those paying less than 6,000 yen (£29.50) will continue to pay 200 yen (£1) pppn
- 6,000 yen-20,000 yen (£98) will pay 400 yen (£2) – double what the current rate is
- 20,000 yen-50,000 yen (£246) will pay 1,000 yen (£5) – double what the current rate is
- 50,000-100,00 yen (£492) will pay 4,000 yen (£19.70) – quadruple what the current rate is
- Over 100,000 yen will pay 10,000 yen (£49.23) – 10 times what the current rate is
Those exempt from the tax include school trips and participants in events at certified childcare centres and nurseries, such as chaperones.
The government expects to make an estimated income of 12.6bn yen per year from the increased taxes.
In its announcement, the Japanese government said the tax increase was approved to “enhance the city’s appeal as an international cultural tourist city and promote tourism”.
The tax hikes also appear to be used as a remedy for large crowds descending on the Japanese tourism hotspot.
“Tourists also must bear the cost of countermeasures against overtourism,” Kyoto travel authorities said in a government application to hike the fees in March, according to The Times.
Kyoto, like many other tourist destinations in Japan, has seen the effects of overtourism in recent years.
Commuters in Kyoto say they must fight for space with luggage-wielding tourists on bus networks. Meanwhile, local officials in the city’s Geisha district said last year they would shut off access to “paparazzi tourists” who harass the globally recognised Japanese female artists.
Mayor Koji Matsui said earlier this year that taxes would be raised “to balance tourism and the livelihoods of local residents”.
Tourist numbers appear to continue to grow, however. The official 2024 tourism figures for Japan report a record 36 million tourists in 2024, surpassing the 31.9 million visitors recorded in 2019 before the Covid pandemic.
Read more: Is the Japan tourism bubble at risk of bursting?
