We listen to a news story about a new 100 yen visitor tax introduced in October by the island of Miyajima in Hiroshima Prefecture. City officials expect this tax to generate 104 million yen in revenues by next March. In the second half of the program, we shine a light on overtourism in Japan and look at the ways cities are trying to reduce the strain on both residents and tourists, providing helpful tips for international visitors along the way.
Welcome to "Learn Japanese from the News."
In this program, we'll learn Japanese and about the country through Japanese news stories.
I'm Yoshikawa Ryuichi, and moving forward I'll be sharing hosting duties with Yamaguchi-san and Chiara-san.
Our headline for today is:
Miyajima Island Introduces 100 Yen Visitor Tax.
Miyajima attracted a lot of attention
during the G7 summit in May.
Yes. The G7 leaders, they traveled to the island on a high-speed cruiser and visited Itsukushima Shrine.
Now, before we listen to the story in Japanese, let's go over some key terms.
"sekai-isan."
World Heritage site.
"hoomon."
visit.
"zeekin."
tax.
OK, see if you can follow along.
Miyajima in Hiroshima Pref. is home
to the Itsukushima Shrine World Heritage site,
and many people come to visit the island.
On October 1,
the island introduced the Miyajima visitation tax,
requiring visitors to pay a tax of 100 yen.
Visitors pay the tax when they take
the ferry to Miyajima.
They pay the boat fare and tax
when they buy a ticket.
For riders using an IC card,
the tax is deducted when
they pass through the ticket gate.
(Officials in) Hatsukaichi City,
where Miyajima is located,
expect this tax to generate
104 million yen by next March.
They plan to spend the money on
restrooms and buildings for visitor use.
In addition,
they plan to use it to beautify the streets
by eliminating utility poles.
I visited Miyajima once, many years ago,
and since then it's become an even more popular site for people to visit.
So I think it's great that officials plan to use the tax to improve the infrastructure and the townscape.
Yeah. With more and more people visiting the island,
they want to make sure the quality of the visitor experience remains high.
OK, let's review the following sentence from the story.
For riders using an IC card,
tax is deducted when they pass through the ticket gate.
Now read along with me.
"Aishii-kaado de fune ni noru baai wa
kaisatsu o tooru toki ni
zeekin mo issho ni hikaremasu."
The "IC" in IC card stands for
"integrated circuit."
In Japan IC-embedded cards
are commonly used to pay for things.
That's very true. And in English we sometimes call them "smart cards" instead.
But now, sensee, what is the key to understanding this sentence?
The key is the word "hiku" in "hikaremasu."
The phrase used in the story is
not "zeekin o harau," but "zeekin o hikareru."
"Zeekin o harau" describes
the conscious action of paying a tax.
"Zeekin o hikareru" describes the tax
being automatically collected from you.
"Hiku," sensee, can also describe the act of pulling something towards you, right?
Yes. It can mean "to pull" or "draw in."
It's used in many situations.
The story mentioned
Itsukushima Shrine.
Chiara, what's something
at a shrine that we "hiku"?
Oh yes, well that's easy. It's,
"omikuji o hiku."
(draw an omikuji.)
So you "draw a fortune," you do that a lot at shrines.
That's right!
This here is not "omikuji,"
but we can use the verb "hiku"
to describe randomly drawing
something from a container.
This contains sticks with expressions
using "hiku" written on them.
Yoshikawa-san and I will act out
what they say.
You and viewers at home try to guess
the usage of "hiku."
Ah, so, it's just a game of charades.
OK, let's begin.
You've got a book.
You're flipping through the...
It's not a book, it's a dictionary. So it's,
"jisho o hiku."
(to look up in a dictionary.)
You got that right!
"Jisho o hiku" is one way to describe
looking something up in a dictionary.
You're "extracting" the info you need.
That's why we use "hiku."
OK, now it's my turn.
So you're leading someone by the hand. OK, so that's
"te o hiku."
(to lead by the hand.)
That's right!
"Te o hiku" describes leading someone
such as a child by the hand.
Right. But I've actually also heard "te o hiku" used in very different contexts.
For example, "kaisha-keeee kara te o hiku," which actually means "to step away from running a business."
You know your stuff!
"Te o hiku" is often used in business.
"Atarashii jigyoo kara te o hiku koto ni shita."
(I've decided to back out of the new business venture.)
You're literally pulling back.
OK, Tokunaga-sensee, "arigatoo gozaimashita."
"Arigatoo gozaimashita."
Inside Japan.
So the purpose of Miyajima's new visitor tax is to combat the effects of overtourism,
which has become a serious concern for travel destinations around the world.
It really has.
Overtourism is when a particular place gets too many visitors,
which puts a strain on the local infrastructure and impacts the lives of residents.
Yes. It can lead to a host of problems, such as "juutai" - traffic jams, "poisute" - littering,
and, "mudan-shinnyuu" - trespassing on private property, to take photos, for example.
One Japanese city that's been grappling with overtourism for a while is Kyoto.
In recent years it's implemented some unique measures.
In the ancient capital of Kyoto,
officials and the city's tourism association have been working to disperse crowds.
To encourage tourists to stagger their visits,
they approached local temples and shrines about extending opening hours and holding illumination events.
And in an effort to help visitors better plan their itineraries,
they've set up live streams of popular spots and a website providing congestion forecasts.
Crowd levels are color-coded for easy reference.
The city hopes to alleviate tourist traffic through a combination of measures.
We recognize that in order to
solve this problem,
we need comprehensive measures
and a multi-pronged approach.
More visitors mean more money for the local economy,
but at some point, the negative points outweigh the positive.
Some countries have begun to limit on the number of tourists they allow at certain sites.
If the crowds here in Japan keep on growing,
we definitely need to think about implementing similar measures.
Actually, we're starting to see that already.
One example is the Shirakawa-go World Heritage Site in Gifu Prefecture.
Every year they hold a winter illumination event, and traffic congestion has become a major problem.
So starting this year, they are making it reservation-only.
I see.
But I'm definitely noticing that more travelers are becoming aware of the impact
that they have on the places they are visiting, and becoming more mindful of that,
and aspiring to make more responsible choices during their trips.
Yeah, I agree.
OK. That's all for today.
We'll see you next time.
See you soon.