national

Tour buses causing traffic problems in Tokyo

9 Comments

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and tour bus operators held a meeting this week to discuss the problems caused by parking.

The number of tourists to Japan has soared this year, with the main increase being visitors from China. As a result, tour buses can be seen coming to places like Ginza and Akihabara one after the other as their occupants go on shopping sprees, Fuji TV reported.

However, there are not enough parking spaces for all the buses, resulting in traffic jams, police department officials said.

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9 Comments
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No Parking is No Parking. Ticket the vehicles the same a your average everyday Japanese driver would be ticketed. Or they can pay the government for a parking pass and legally back up traffic. (For those of you unfamiliar with driving in Japan, you can get a parking pass for a specific area, at the local government office, which you put in your window and you won't get a ticket. So basically you pay the government to park and back up traffic.)

2 ( +2 / -0 )

What is it Japan? Do you want tourists or not? Every week I see an article about how many tourists are coming to Japan, and how great it is. But at the same time, there are almost always an equal number of article talking about all the problems caused by said tourists. Parking problems, shoppers, especially Chinese not knowing manners and etiquette. Onsens worried about tattoos on their guests. Either accept them for the cash cow that they are, or stop bellyaching about them!

10 ( +11 / -1 )

I personally don't want all the extra tourists and the Olympics. Already hotels are preparing for Olympics and the added tourists until then by raising their prices and cutting services. I spend a lot of time in hotels in TOKYO and seeing 45-50% raise... More traffic like this article states is very true too! I drive 100 km a day commuting to and between TOKYO and it's getting insane not only shopping points but sightseeing points as well. Even without the buses parking they block traffic dropping off and picking up 45 passengers who are taking their time.... Road construction is killing traffic too... Sure some roads can use improvements but not all at the same time. Lots of changing the roadway signs so there is English everywhere.... I'm so fed up with the Olympics already

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

"You can't have your cake and eat it!"

(What the heck does that mean mother!)

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Yes, they do pose a problem even of they don't park. Its really good that they are discussing and thinking about the issue to find a solution . Just letting things as they are would only make them worse , even if the tourists are bringing in more cash.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Apparently there is a shortage of tour buses at the moment. The demand from mainland tourists is so great.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Maybe if the government developed a major international airport in the southwest, there would be more foreign interest in that area. Anything to take some pressure off Tokyo.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I also wish that Japanese companies would offer some of the deals/discounts to its own (struggling) people and not just overseas visitors. Europe does this (with their Eurorail Pass) for example.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

MarkX

I know what you mean. So what is it going to be then? Do we or don't we want people coming to Japan?

Though at the same time the article and people bringing up the complaints may simply be drawing attention to a particular point to help adjust and hopefully fix an issue before it becomes a major problem. With the 2020 Olympics not far, this issue is just going to get bigger and it is perhaps best we get it sorted now rather than just before, or during the Olympics.

As far as etiquette goes, I guess that is just a result of ignorance. We can't very well expect all people whether they are Chinese, British, American, Australian or people from anywhere outside of Japan to just know or understand the way things work in Japan.

Though it would be nice if people wouldn't forget their brains at home when they go on holiday. Common sense things, like public indecency or that other article here about that man that entered the female section of an onsen because the view was nicer.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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