Speaker: Benjamin Altschuler | Associate Professor of Instruction & Academic Director of the Master of Science in Travel and Tourism Program

Moderator: Kyle Cleveland | Associate Professor & ICAS Co-director, Temple University Japan

Overview:  In the post-World War 2 world, Japan has spread its influence not through traditional hard power means, but through a soft power approach. With worldwide tourism experiencing massive growth in the post covid era, Japan has leveraged international tourism interest in the country as a new way to exercise soft power. The results are astonishing! In 2024, Japan welcomed over thirty-five million visitors, generating around 53 billion in USD, which was a fifty percent increase over the preceding year. Tourism is now the second largest export in Japan, behind only the automotive industry. Tourism is so successful that the government is pushing to increase the number of international tourists to sixty million by 2030. While Japan’s use of tourism as a soft power mechanism is spreading Japanese influence globally, and attracting a record number of visitors, problems are mounting. The unprecedented number of visitors to popular destinations such as Kyoto, Tokyo, and Mt. Fuji are leading to growing concerns regarding overtourism and its impact on resident satisfaction, environmental degradation, and the commodification of Japanese culture. This raises an essential question: how can Japan balance the soft power and economic benefits of tourism with the social, cultural and environmental costs?