Japan continues to break tourist records, but behind the postcard image of cherry blossoms, Zen temples and matcha cafés, a much less romantic reality is emerging. In the most visited cities of the country, mass tourism is in fact creating increasingly concrete problems for residents: public transport paralyzed by visitors’ suitcases, hotels submerged by abandoned luggage and increasing costs for waste disposal.
A situation that illustrates how Japan’s tourism success is becoming difficult to manage.
Over 42 million visitors in just one year
In 2025, Japan recorded a new historical record: 42.7 million foreign tourists, exceeding the 40 million threshold for the first time. The data, announced by Tourism Minister Yasushi Kaneko, confirms the very rapid growth of the sector after the reopening of the post-Covid borders.
In 2024, international visitors had already been 36.87 million, but the number continued to increase thanks mainly to the weakness of the yen, which makes Japan much cheaper for foreign travellers.
The government’s goal is even more ambitious: to reach 60 million tourists by 2030.
Tourism is now one of the country’s main economic resources. In 2025 alone, foreign visitors spent 9.5 trillion yen, up from 8.1 trillion the previous year. The boom is mainly driven by travelers from Asia, but flows from Europe, the United States and Australia are also growing, increasing by 22% in just one year.
Kyoto suffocates between full buses and giant suitcases
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Among the cities most affected by overtourism is Kyoto, where the public transport system is now close to collapse. The city has few metro lines and most travel still takes place by bus, the same ones used by residents every day.
In recent months, Japanese social media has been filled with images of buses completely invaded by XXL suitcases dragged by tourists heading towards temples and historic districts. In many cases, luggage occupies entire corridors, blocking passage and making it impossible for those who have to go to work or school to get on.
Trains and railway stations are also suffering the effects of overcrowding. Elevators are often monopolized by travelers with huge suitcases, creating inconvenience for people with disabilities, the elderly and families with strollers.
To try to ease the situation, Kyoto has introduced bus lines dedicated almost exclusively to tourists, but the measure does not seem sufficient.
The new problem: abandoned suitcases
To further complicate the picture there is the phenomenon of suitcases left around by foreign visitors. In Osaka, Tokyo and Kyoto the problem has become so widespread that it has even made national news.
Only at Kansai International Airport, in 2024, the highest number of abandoned suitcases in recent years was recorded.
According to local media reports, many tourists buy new suitcases during their trip to bring home shopping, gadgets, cosmetics and Japanese souvenirs. Old suitcases are thus left in hotels or abandoned near stations and public bins.
There would also be an economic motivation behind this behavior: for some travelers, paying for extra luggage at the airport costs more than buying a new cheap suitcase directly in Japan.
Disposing of a suitcase in Japan is complicated
The point is that in Japan a suitcase cannot normally be thrown in the garbage. It is classified as “sodai gomi”, i.e. bulky waste.
This means that to dispose of it you need to follow precise procedures: book collection with the municipality, purchase specific paid stickers and respect the days and methods established by the local authorities.
It is therefore not simple household rubbish. Every abandoned suitcase causes additional costs, logistical problems and further pressure on the municipal waste management system.
Hotels are also in difficulty
Hotel facilities are starting to pay an increasingly higher price. Several hotels in Osaka say they have to keep suitcases left in rooms for months because they are formally considered “lost items”.
This forces hotels to use warehouses and entire rooms to accumulate luggage that no one claims anymore, incurring high storage and disposal costs. And often these are practically new suitcases.
Japan tries to take cover
To try to reduce the problem, the government and transport companies are promoting the so-called “Hands Free Travel”, i.e. travel without luggage.
In fact, in Japan there are very efficient luggage shipping services, known as Takkyubin, which allow you to send suitcases directly from airports to hotels or from one city to another.
At the airports of Tokyo and Osaka there are counters dedicated to these services, while some railway companies are experimenting with smart lockers and automatic baggage delivery systems.
In Tokyo, for example, the “Pikuraku Porter” service allows tourists to leave their suitcases at train stations and receive them later at their hotel.
The real issue is mass tourism
Behind the issue of suitcases, however, a much bigger problem emerges: Japan’s tourism model is showing its limits more and more clearly.
The increase in visitors is bringing wealth, but also social tensions, traffic, endless queues and a worsening of the quality of life in the most visited cities.
In the Gion district of Kyoto, restrictions and fines have already been introduced for tourists who chase geishas and maikos in private streets just to photograph them. Limits on access and mandatory reservations have appeared on Mount Fuji to contain overcrowding.
Meanwhile, the tourism sector also faces a growing shortage of workers: according to the World Travel & Tourism Council, Japan could have a tourism staffing deficit of 29% by 2035.
The country continues to chase new visitor records, but the case of the suitcases clearly shows how mass tourism can quickly transform into a daily problem for those who live in those places every day.
