The Japanese government’s plan to ease visa restrictions for independent tourists and abolish the daily arrival cap by early October as well as the prospect of a nationwide travel discount program in the autumn are all welcome news for the country’s pandemic-stricken tourist hubs.
None more so than the city of Kyoto, where the financial shortfall due to the pandemic laid bare a number of long-standing fiscal problems, prompting the city’s mayor, Daisaku Kadokawa, to declare at the beginning of the year that there was “the prospect of bankruptcy within a decade.” Kadokawa’s statement was followed by the announcement of a major cost-cutting plan in June.
One of the sectors that has felt the full force of the city’s funding cuts is the arts. Kyoto Experiment (KEX), a leading international performing arts festival that will open its doors on Oct. 1, had already been struggling to maintain operations during the pandemic when it was handed a cut of just over 50% in this year’s financial contribution from Kyoto City.