In 2025, Japan was one of the hottest destinations to visit amongst international tourists, owing to its excellent public transportation, lower prices as the result of a weak yen, and Japan’s ability to capture global attention with both its history and pop culture contributions. But this tourist boom comes with complications, not least of which is the overcrowding of major cities. The vast majority of tourists to Japan visit the so-called “Golden route” across the cities of Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, placing significant stress on attempts to create sustainable cities as public transport is unable to handle passengers past it’s capacity, particularly in Kyoto where the bus network struggles to match rising tourist numbers. So how could one travel more sustainably in Japan, and reduce the overcrowding of cities? A solution that is being explored by many regional governments in Japan is Green tourism. Green tourism is where local farmers and communities to open their homes to tourists for free or heavily reduced fee in exchange for their labour in helping tend to and harvest their crops and animals. This also helps tackle another and more threatening problem facing Japanese society; population decline and an aging populous. The average Japanese farmer is 70 years old, marking both a decline in young people choosing farming as a career due to its relatively low pay compared to other sectors leading to less labour available for farmer work, and a difficulty amongst those presently farmers to keep up with demand as they age. This is where green tourism can step in to help. Tourists can act as a consistent source of labour to small rural farms and help revitalise communities by staying there; simultaneously relieving overcrowding in major cities and stemming the labour shortage in rural farming communities. Of course it goes without saying that the tourists themselves benefit greatly from this arrangement. Not only do they get greatly discounted or free accommodation, but they get to learn about sustainable farming practices on small scale farms from those with the most expertise. This raises awareness about sustainable farming and could serve to inspire those who have participated in green tourism to promote sustainable farming in their own communities and encourage them to support local products in their future. Don’t simply take my word for it though, as it has seen success in rural communities across Japan, such as in Setoda in the inland sea where green tourism has been adopted with much positive feedback from both tourists and farmers, particularly in regards to the help it provided during the lemon harvest season. The further promotion and implementation of green tourism in Japan will relieve pressure on Japan’s social issues threefold; The steady labour supplied by the 42 million annual visitors to Japan in lieu of domestic workers, pulling tourists from large cities inundated with visitors and distributing them to rural areas, and finally it will serve to improve sentiments between Japanese people and tourists by promoting symbiosis rather than simply visiting.
