Do you feel like the "concert has come to you"?

If you've lived in Japan a while, you probably know that tourism has been on the rise over the last decade or so. When we first moved here in 2013 we lived in downtown Tokyo for one year before moving out to the suburbs, and we still reminisce about that year – we could ride our mamachari bikes along the sidewalk in Omotesando/Harajuku comfortably, which these days is unfathomable. Ah, memories!

The whole overtourism thing has been the word on everyone's lips lately, it seems, and I think this year – and particularly, this sakura season – it seems to have hit fever pitch. I saw a bit of discourse on the social media platform Threads a week or so ago, and it was a conversation about how expats seem to be complaining about their local areas being "ruined" by tourists coming to enjoy the cherry blossoms, but it's akin to people complaining about a concert being sold out. 

One foreigner living in Japan chimed in to the conversation and said it's less like complaining about a concert being sold out, and more like complaining that the concert has been brought to you. On your doorstep, effectively.

Pic Credit: Yuki Eyre/Unsplash

It did get me thinking a bit. There's no doubt that Japan is a bit of a hot/trending destination at the moment, and certain destinations like the "big three" (Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka) are quite oversaturated – I do think if I was still in Tokyo and not Niigata I'd probably feel a little frustrated if my daily life felt heavily impacted by crowds and the like. 

I do wonder how Japan can better incentivize people getting out of those three key areas. I had to visit Fukui recently for work because of the Hokuriku Shinkansen extension, and I was reminded just how much there is to see and do outside those areas. Not boring stuff, either, but world-class stuff! 

Are you living in an area where you feel like the concert has come to you? How would you better incentivize people visiting Japan to head off the beaten path?