What 4,189 tourists really told Japan & how Japan handles it

I don’t know a single person who didn’t like their vacation to Japan. Some of them may have encounter some small annoyances, but anecdotes can’t be generalized.

So it’s nice to see the Japan Tourism Agency run yearly surveys on this.

The report has 25 pages of data. All in Japanese sadly (despite annoyance #4). But no worries, I’ve read it and analyzed it to give you the top 5 problems and the culture/historical reasons behind them.

1. “Where are all the trash cans?” — 22 % struggled with waste disposal

More than one in five respondents named the “lack of trash bins” as their biggest annoyance, making it the No. 1 problem for a second straight year.

Travellers alike pointed to iconic sightseeing districts such as Asakusa or Fushimi Inari, where litter bins are virtually absent.

Why?

• A legacy of sarin-gas terrorism (1995). After the Aum Shinrikyō subway attack, municipal bins were removed to deter copy-cats and the policy quietly stuck.

• “Take-home” etiquette (mottainai). Since the Edo period, farmers reused every scrap; post-war schools drilled pupils to carry rubbish home. Local governments expect visitors to do the same.

• Hyper-sorted recycling. Japan’s rigid burnable / PET / cans / bottles categories make a one-bin-for-all solution impractical; authorities prefer no bin to the “wrong” bin.

Result: tourists clutch empty coffee cups until they reach a konbini, then Instagram the ordeal.

2. Talking to staff — 15% found communication difficult

Despite rising proficiency, 15% still reported trouble “communicating with facility staff”, the second-ranked pain-point. Dining venues were the worst offenders: 54% of visitors who had language issues said they occurred in restaurants.

Why?

• Late start with English education. Spoken English only became a policy priority in the 2000s; many current service workers learned grammar drills, not conversation.

• Hometown hiring. Family-run eateries outside big chains rarely employ non-Japanese staff.

• Conflict avoidance culture. Rather than risk embarrassment, employees may retreat to silence, leaving visitors feeling ignored.

Interestingly, 75% solved the gap with translation apps, showing that digital tools are patching this cultural divide.

3. Crowds everywhere — 13% bothered by congestion

A new category this year, “overcrowding at tourist spots,” debuted straight at #3 overall (13%), with urban hotspots drawing 62% of the complaints.

Why?

• The “Golden Route” gravity. Since 1964’s first Shinkansen, Tokyo–Hakone–Kyoto–Osaka became the canonical itinerary, concentrating flows.

• Seasonal obsession. Hanami (cherry blossom) and Koyo (autumn foliage) calendars, rooted in classical poetry, funnel millions into the same week-long windows.

• Social media amplification. Instagrammable spots such spread virally before infrastructure can scale.

Local authorities rarely publish real-time crowd data in foreign languages, and 41% said the problem was “lack of information about congestion.”

4. Signs you can’t read — 12% cite poor multilingual signage

Roughly one in eight travellers checked the box for “multi-lingual signs are scarce or unclear,” with menus topping the complaint list. Rural highways scored worse: 20% of countryside tourists struggled with road signage.

Why?

• Kanji as default literacy. Since Meiji-era modernization, national signage assumed kanji competence; wholesale Romanization never fully arrived.

• Municipal budgets. Tokyo’s 2020 Olympic push upgraded metro signs, but cash-strapped prefectures still rely on decades-old boards.

• Fear of mistranslation. Officials prefer no English to bad English; perfectionism delays updates.

Most visitors managed with Google Lens, but about one-third “gave up decoding” altogether. An opportunity cost for regional tourism.

5. Using public transport — 8 % to 10 % puzzle over trains & buses

The survey splits transport into two items: “using public transport” (8–10% depending on region) and “securing transport where little exists” (7%). Travellers in cities chiefly tripped over “non-Shinkansen rail,” while rural guests struggled most with buses. The hardest part? “Identifying the correct platform or stop” (44% urban, 40% rural).

Why?

• Railway pluralism. Unlike Europe’s national operators, Japan kept its pre-war patchwork of private rail lines; each uses unique maps and ticketing systems.

• Timetable complexity. Dense schedules reflect a punctuality culture prized since the first rail line in the 19th century; for outsiders, five train categories on one track is bewildering.

• Rural car bias. In prefectures with ageing populations, bus routes were cut after the 1970s motorization boom, leaving visitors without “last-mile” options.

Half of confused riders “looked it up online,” yet one in ten in rural areas simply abandoned the mode and sought alternatives, often pricey taxis.

Bonus: the silent triumphs

The flip side of pain is progress.

A majority of respondents — 51%, up from 30% last year — said they experienced no problems at all.

In particular, 88–92% praised city Wi-Fi coverage and contactless payments, areas Japan once lagged in.

(When I lived there pre-COVID, cash was king, card payments were not accepted everywhere, and contactless was a rarity)

Improvements show that when issues are framed in concrete terms (e.g., “install more hotspots”), Japan can and does adapt swiftly.

Take-aways for policymakers and travellers

• Soft fixes first. Many grievances (bins, signs, crowd data) involve inexpensive, low-tech solutions… if local governments can align regulations with visitor realities.

• Digital intermediaries work but mask root issues. Translation apps ease friction, yet also let institutions delay hiring multilingual staff or rewriting signs.

• Diversify the itinerary. Historic promotion of secondary cities (Kanazawa, Matsumoto) is paying off; sustaining it would relieve congestion at marquee sites.

On that note, I had a friend visiting Japan for the first time in May and he chose to go to Kanazawa (but also other popular cities). He sent me videos of empty, yet beautiful, streets.

So the promotion of other cities seem to be paying off and be an alternative if you have a more peaceful trip to Japan.