Post-pandemic tourists in Japan are increasingly snapping up folk crafts and jewelry, while sales of cosmetics and medicines has waned, reflecting the changing demographics of visitors as more people from Europe show up and China’s citizens stay at home.
Average spending on traditional handicrafts per visitor was ¥13,338 ($92) in the July-September quarter, up 80% from the same period in 2019, according to the Japan Tourism Agency, extending a trend that started in early 2023. Sales of cosmetics shrank 30% over the same time frame.
Although inbound tourism has been one of the few bright spots in Japan’s patchy economic recovery, drugstores and retailers can no longer count on busloads of travelers from China clearing out shelves, a common sight up until 2019. Fewer spenders from the mainland also reflect the slowing economy there, despite the weaker yen making tours to the archipelago more affordable.