The crush of foreign visitors in Kyoto has become so overwhelming that some Japanese schools are abandoning the ancient capital as a destination for their class trips – a quiet but telling sign of how overtourism is reshaping life for local residents.
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Teachers complain their pupils now face packed buses and subways, crowds at temples and shrines, and hotel and restaurant prices that have doubled or even tripled. The result, according to school trip organisers, is disappointment for students and frustration for parents who once saw Kyoto as a rite of passage.
“Many schools in the Kanto region [around Tokyo] want their students to go to Kyoto, but there are more and more that are reporting problems,” said Michiyo Nakade, an official of the Japan School Trip Association, which arranges visits nationwide.
She explained that overtourism and rising costs had made it difficult to plan.
“Some places are so busy that the students cannot see everything, so they are very disappointed. It is very unfortunate because most Japanese parents went to Kyoto for their school trips when they were younger and they want their children to go to the same places,” she told This Week in Asia.
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