bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

He Huifeng

Guangzhou native Elisa Liang cannot wait for her maiden trip to Japan later this month. The week-long tour to five Japanese cities will cost about 10,500 yuan (HK$13,200), and she will be bringing twice that amount as she has already prepared a long shopping list.
"In recent months, every time I start up my WeChat app, I will see the friends on my feed showing off what they ate and bought in Japan," said the 37-year-old white-collar worker.
"I have to go there too, as soon as possible, as I don't want to be the last one to do it."
It was not until early last year that Japan saw a rise in Chinese tourists, following the fall of the yen against the renminbi and its relaxed visa policy.
But now, they are coming in droves.
Nearly 2.41 million Chinese tourists visited Japan last year - an 83 per cent rise from 2013 - and each spent an average of 12,000 yuan, the Japan National Tourism Organisation said.
Industry insiders on the mainland expect the numbers to rise by at least another 30 per cent this year.
Tokyo, Hokkaido, Kyoto, Osaka and Okinawa are the favourite destinations among Chinese vacationers, whose main focus is to buy Japanese-made goods, senior tour guide Wang Meng said.
"'Made in Japan' is the golden brand among Chinese tourists," said the Shenzhen native, who travels to Japan four times a month.
"They believe Japanese products are the best of their kind in the world, and with the cheap yen they want to buy all of Japan's products.
"Almost everyone goes back to China with overweight baggage. Most goods in Japan are 20 to 30 per cent cheaper than those in Hong Kong."
Insurance saleswoman Wang Xuan, who visited Japan with 29 of her colleagues last month, said: "We wanted to buy everything made in Japan - Seiko watches, Zojirushi vacuum cups and electric cookers, Nissin cup noodles, portable beauty apparatuses, cosmeceuticals, baby diapers, milk powder and clothes.
"Our group of 30 spent over a million yuan in all just on shopping. We bought 20 electric cookers - I even bought a bag of rice.
"If I could, I would have bought as many fresh fruits as I could carry. The apples, strawberries and grapes I had in Japan were the best fruits I've tasted."
Tour guides across Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong say small Japanese-made household appliances have replaced cosmeceuticals - cosmetic products with medical benefits - on Chinese tourists' list of favourite items to shop for in Japan.
"Chinese tourists love to buy vacuum cups, electric cookers and electric kettles in Japan. Many from Shanghai and north China also like to buy Japanese electric bidet seats after using them in Japan's hotels and airports," Shanghai tour guide Zhang Yang said.
Chinese tour agencies believe the Japan tourism market will continue to grow.
"We are very optimistic … The number of our group tours to Japan over this Lunar New Year is double that of the same period last year," said Shi Kaifeng, public relations manager from Ctrip, a leading Chinese travel service provider. "The Japan tourism craze will go on for as long as the yen remains cheap."
The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also relaxed its three-year multiple-entry visa requirements for Chinese citizens in an effort to promote tourism in the country and revitalise its economy. The annual salary requirement for individual tourists applying for multiple-entry visas has been lowered from 250,000 yuan to around 100,000 yuan, as long as the applicants have a travel record to Okinawa, Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima.
"This means millions of white-collar workers from urban cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen with annual salaries below 200,000 yuan can now apply for multiple-entry visas to Japan," Shi said.
The visa policy also means more Chinese tourists will travel more frequently to Japan, said Guangzhou-based GZL International Travel Service marketing manager Qin Bei.
"I made my sixth trip to Japan in December with my wife and son, and we spent about 20,000 yuan each. We did not shop this time but simply enjoyed the seafood and services there," said Guangzhou media director Steve Jiang, adding that he would visit the country up to twice a year if the yen remained weak against the renminbi.
However, Japan's gain could be Hong Kong's loss, as fewer mainland tourists could make the city part of their holiday plans. Shanghai human resource manager Lin Xiaoxia said: "I used to travel to Hong Kong every year. But I have no plans for that this year. I prefer Japan to Hong Kong now.
"In Japan, the food is fine, the people are nice and the yen is cheap. In Hong Kong … the city is very chaotic and the people there are so mean."
 

Japan brands seen as superior
Given that China has been the world's manufacturing hub for three decades, it is easy to find cheap products there.
An electric cooker made under a domestic brand sells for between 300 yuan (HK$372) and 1,000 yuan in China.
So why would affluent Chinese tourists rather pay 6,000 yuan for a Japanese electric cooker? In short, a reputation for quality and innovation.
"To be honest, some colleagues buy electric cookers on their trips to Japan," said an engineer with Galanz, one of China's leading household-appliance makers, who did not want to be named.
"Take electric cookers, for example. Most Chinese domestic brands still use heater tubes, while high-end Japanese electric cookers use energy-efficient, electromagnetic-induction cooking technology.
"Even if we could produce similar high-end cookers, we could not sell them for less than 3,000 or 4,000 yuan. The problem is that Chinese customers don't think it's a burden to pay 6,000 to 9,000 yuan for a Japanese cooker. But in their minds, a domestic one is only worth a few hundred yuan."
The reputation of Japanese appliances extended to items like refrigerators and washing machines, the engineer added.


South Korea, Thailand emerge as top choice for Chinese tourists amid Japan tensions

Malaysia’s Penang set to scoop up Chinese tourists skipping Japan, Thailand’s Hat Yai

1,900 China-Japan flights cancelled in December as political row continues

Beijing-Tokyo diplomatic feud dims Japan’s allure for Chinese wealth and talent

Chinese tourists

Cashed-up Chinese switch sights to Japan as weak yen lures tourists

Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

News

China

Eager to take advantage of a weak yen, cashed-up mainlanders are trekking to Japan in droves. But what does this mean for Hong Kong?


It was not until early last year that Japan saw a rise in Chinese tourists, following the fall of the yen against the renminbi and its relaxed visa policy. But now, they are coming in droves.
