{"id":127206,"date":"2026-04-09T14:10:05","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T18:10:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/tourist-chaos-erupts-as-cherry-blossom-festival-is-shut-down-officials-triple-tax-to-curb-crowds-127206"},"modified":"2026-04-09T14:10:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T18:10:05","slug":"tourist-chaos-erupts-as-cherry-blossom-festival-is-shut-down-officials-triple-tax-to-curb-crowds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/tourist-chaos-erupts-as-cherry-blossom-festival-is-shut-down-officials-triple-tax-to-curb-crowds-127206","title":{"rendered":"Tourist chaos erupts as cherry blossom festival is shut down, officials triple tax to curb crowds"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Visitors from far and wide have been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/world\/world-regions\/japan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">traveling to Japan<\/a> \u2014 and now government officials will be raising their tourist tax in an effort to curb overtourism.<\/p>\n<p>Japan will be tripling its international tourist tax of 1,000 yen, or about $6, per person \u2014 to 3,000 yen, or about $18, per person \u2014 starting July 1.<\/p>\n<p>Hokuto Asano at the<strong> <\/strong>Embassy of Japan in Washington, D.C., told Fox News Digital\u00a0the change is part of the government\u2019s efforts to carefully calibrate its tourism goals.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/travel\/travelers-must-pay-fee-pass-screening-before-visiting-popular-destination-under-new-rule\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"><strong>TRAVELERS MUST PAY FEE, PASS SCREENING BEFORE VISITING POPULAR DESTINATION UNDER NEW RULE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;[Japan] is targeting 60 million inbound visitors and 15 trillion yen in inbound tourism spending by 2030 \u2014 while balancing the expansion of tourism with the quality of life for residents and promoting regional destinations,&#8221; Asano said.<\/p>\n<p>He said the flow of American tourists who are visiting Japan is &#8220;performing very strongly&#8221; \u2014 noting that there were 220,000 visitors in February of this year, for a 15% increase from 2025.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;While the number of visitors from China to Japan has declined, the increase in tourists from a wide range of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/world\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">other countries<\/a> has more than offset this trend,&#8221; said Asano.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, overall inbound travel to Japan continues to exceed last year\u2019s levels, he noted.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/lifestyle\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE STORIES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Asano said the country is continuing to closely monitor the impact of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/world\/world-regions\/middle-east\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the situation in the Middle East<\/a> on tourism issues for Japan.<\/p>\n<p>Cherry blossom season is a major attraction in Japan, drawing tourists from around the world.<\/p>\n<p>But this year, officials have canceled a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/travel\/general\/fairs-festivals\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">popular festival<\/a> that was meant to attract visitors due to overtourism.<\/p>\n<p>Fujiyoshida canceled its cherry blossom festival, with multiple reports saying the call was made due to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/science\/planet-earth\/pollution\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">tourist pollution,<\/a> such as traffic jams and littering.<\/p>\n<p>Asano noted these problems are not unique to Japan and are seen in many other countries.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/newsletters?cmpid=fnfirstnl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Japan Tourism Agency will continue to enhance its tourism policies by balancing the acceptance of tourists with maintaining the quality of life for local residents, while also promoting travel to regional destinations,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<p>Japan recently launched a new procedure for all\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"><u>incoming visitors<\/u><\/a> in an effort to streamline the travel process \u2014 plus to beef up security.<\/p>\n<p>Travelers to Japan could be required to sign up for the Japan Electronic System for Travel Authorization (JESTA) and pay a fee of about $19 (3,000 yen), as Fox News Digital reported earlier.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/lifestyle\/quizzes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Visitors must apply for the &#8220;single-entry short-term stay visa for the purpose of tourism for a period of up to 90 days&#8221; online prior to their trip, according to a government website.<\/p>\n<p>Asano said the relevant legislation is currently under examination, &#8220;and the establishment of the system has not yet been finalized. Details such as fees and collection methods have not yet been determined.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/travel\/tourist-chaos-erupts-cherry-blossom-festival-shut-down-officials-triple-tax-curb-crowds\">Source &#8211; https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/travel\/tourist-chaos-erupts-cherry-blossom-festival-shut-down-officials-triple-tax-curb-crowds <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Visitors from far and wide have been traveling to Japan \u2014 and now government officials will be raising their tourist tax in an effort to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_2902945987_2902945987":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[16563],"tags":[],"stock_ticker":[],"class_list":["post-127206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-market-news","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Tourist chaos erupts as cherry blossom festival is shut down, officials triple tax to curb crowds - Wall Street PR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/tourist-chaos-erupts-as-cherry-blossom-festival-is-shut-down-officials-triple-tax-to-curb-crowds-127206\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tourist chaos erupts as cherry blossom festival is shut down, officials triple tax to curb crowds - Wall Street PR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Visitors from far and wide have been traveling to Japan \u2014 and now government officials will be raising their tourist tax in an effort to [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/tourist-chaos-erupts-as-cherry-blossom-festival-is-shut-down-officials-triple-tax-to-curb-crowds-127206\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Wall Street PR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WallStreetPR\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-09T18:10:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/businessman-showing-business-evolution1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"715\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"423\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/tourist-chaos-erupts-as-cherry-blossom-festival-is-shut-down-officials-triple-tax-to-curb-crowds-127206#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/tourist-chaos-erupts-as-cherry-blossom-festival-is-shut-down-officials-triple-tax-to-curb-crowds-127206\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/person\/6e00efa2abc413bdc0bca51a90c54d36\"},\"headline\":\"Tourist chaos erupts as cherry blossom festival is shut down, officials triple tax to curb crowds\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-09T18:10:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/tourist-chaos-erupts-as-cherry-blossom-festival-is-shut-down-officials-triple-tax-to-curb-crowds-127206\"},\"wordCount\":494,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Market News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/tourist-chaos-erupts-as-cherry-blossom-festival-is-shut-down-officials-triple-tax-to-curb-crowds-127206\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/tourist-chaos-erupts-as-cherry-blossom-festival-is-shut-down-officials-triple-tax-to-curb-crowds-127206\",\"name\":\"Tourist chaos erupts as cherry blossom festival is shut down, officials triple tax to curb crowds - Wall Street PR\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-09T18:10:05+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/tourist-chaos-erupts-as-cherry-blossom-festival-is-shut-down-officials-triple-tax-to-curb-crowds-127206#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/tourist-chaos-erupts-as-cherry-blossom-festival-is-shut-down-officials-triple-tax-to-curb-crowds-127206\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/tourist-chaos-erupts-as-cherry-blossom-festival-is-shut-down-officials-triple-tax-to-curb-crowds-127206#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Tourist chaos erupts as cherry blossom festival is shut down, officials triple tax to curb crowds\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/\",\"name\":\"Wall Street PR\",\"description\":\"Latest News From WallStreet\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Wall Street PR\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/brand-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/brand-logo.png\",\"width\":537,\"height\":70,\"caption\":\"Wall Street PR\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WallStreetPR\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/WallstreetPRs\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/person\/6e00efa2abc413bdc0bca51a90c54d36\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/360_F_336393115_5gCUfwn76x3MJaCJMYDKLoRebkC8QyrL-300x300.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/360_F_336393115_5gCUfwn76x3MJaCJMYDKLoRebkC8QyrL-300x300.jpg\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/author\/admin\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tourist chaos erupts as cherry blossom festival is shut down, officials triple tax to curb crowds - Wall Street PR","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/tourist-chaos-erupts-as-cherry-blossom-festival-is-shut-down-officials-triple-tax-to-curb-crowds-127206","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tourist chaos erupts as cherry blossom festival is shut down, officials triple tax to curb crowds - Wall Street PR","og_description":"Visitors from far and wide have been traveling to Japan \u2014 and now government officials will be raising their tourist tax in an effort to [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/tourist-chaos-erupts-as-cherry-blossom-festival-is-shut-down-officials-triple-tax-to-curb-crowds-127206","og_site_name":"Wall Street PR","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WallStreetPR\/","article_published_time":"2026-04-09T18:10:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":715,"height":423,"url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/businessman-showing-business-evolution1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/tourist-chaos-erupts-as-cherry-blossom-festival-is-shut-down-officials-triple-tax-to-curb-crowds-127206#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/tourist-chaos-erupts-as-cherry-blossom-festival-is-shut-down-officials-triple-tax-to-curb-crowds-127206"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/person\/6e00efa2abc413bdc0bca51a90c54d36"},"headline":"Tourist chaos erupts as cherry blossom festival is shut down, officials triple tax to curb crowds","datePublished":"2026-04-09T18:10:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/tourist-chaos-erupts-as-cherry-blossom-festival-is-shut-down-officials-triple-tax-to-curb-crowds-127206"},"wordCount":494,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Market News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/tourist-chaos-erupts-as-cherry-blossom-festival-is-shut-down-officials-triple-tax-to-curb-crowds-127206","url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/tourist-chaos-erupts-as-cherry-blossom-festival-is-shut-down-officials-triple-tax-to-curb-crowds-127206","name":"Tourist chaos erupts as cherry blossom festival is shut down, officials triple tax to curb crowds - Wall Street PR","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-04-09T18:10:05+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/tourist-chaos-erupts-as-cherry-blossom-festival-is-shut-down-officials-triple-tax-to-curb-crowds-127206#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/tourist-chaos-erupts-as-cherry-blossom-festival-is-shut-down-officials-triple-tax-to-curb-crowds-127206"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/tourist-chaos-erupts-as-cherry-blossom-festival-is-shut-down-officials-triple-tax-to-curb-crowds-127206#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tourist chaos erupts as cherry blossom festival is shut down, officials triple tax to curb crowds"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/","name":"Wall Street PR","description":"Latest News From WallStreet","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#organization","name":"Wall Street PR","url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/brand-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/brand-logo.png","width":537,"height":70,"caption":"Wall Street PR"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WallStreetPR\/","https:\/\/x.com\/WallstreetPRs"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/person\/6e00efa2abc413bdc0bca51a90c54d36","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/360_F_336393115_5gCUfwn76x3MJaCJMYDKLoRebkC8QyrL-300x300.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/360_F_336393115_5gCUfwn76x3MJaCJMYDKLoRebkC8QyrL-300x300.jpg","caption":"admin"},"url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/author\/admin"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127206\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127206"},{"taxonomy":"stock_ticker","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stock_ticker?post=127206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}