Over 10,000 Chinese Cancel Japan Tour Due to the Disputed Diaoyu Island

Sino-Japanese relations is deteriorating due to the disputed Diaoyu Island, even the most popular Mt. Fuji among Chinese tourists is hardly taking on a thriving business recently. Even though in the peak tourism season, Chinese tourists are seldom seen in Japan. Some hotels begin to drum up customers, according to Japan’s Asahi newspaper.

A gift store manager in Yamanashi Prefecture reveals that 99.9% Chinese stopped coming. The manager said, there are about 60 tour buses of Chinese tourists at most every day before mid-September, which can be said to reach a pre-earthquake figures, reported as his saying. In the peak tourism season of summer, more than half tourists in the store are Chinese. However, since Japanese Government declared the so-called nationalization of Diaoyu Island, Chinese are seldom seen here. And the sales volume also decreased by 30%. Scenic spots like Mt. Fuji and Fiji Five Lakes assemble in the east area of Yamanashi Prefecture, where receives 87,500 Chinese tourists in the past year, according to the statistics released by Japan Tourism Agency (JTA).

The questionnaire survey conducted by Fuji kawaguchiko Tourism Union shows that 12, 845 Chinese canceled stay in 38 hotels from September to October, and there are little reservation calls after Oct.

“This year is the 40th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic relations, we’ve thought that Chinese customers would increase. Considering of national interest, we had to endure it.” the President of Tominoko Hotel expressed helplessly.