TOKYO: Shiina Ito has had fewer Chinese customers at her Tokyo jewellery shop since Beijing issued a travel warning in the wake of a diplomatic spat, but she said she was not concerned.
A souring of Beijing-Tokyo relations this month, following remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about Taiwan, has fuelled concerns about the impact on the ritzy boutiques, noodle joints and hotels where holidaymakers spend their cash.
But businesses in Tokyo largely shrugged off any anxiety.
“Since there are fewer Chinese customers, it’s become a bit easier for Japanese shoppers to visit, so our sales haven’t really dropped,” shop manager Ito told AFP.
Chinese buyers normally make up half of the clientele at her business in the capital’s traditional Asakusa district, where crowds of tourists stroll through shop-lined alleys.
Many tourism and retail businesses in Japan rely heavily on Chinese visitors, who spend more on average than other foreign tourists on everything from sushi to skincare.
Some hotels, designer clothes shops and even pharmacies have Mandarin-speaking assistants, while department stores often have signs in Chinese.
In Tokyo’s upscale Ginza district, Yuki Yamamoto, the manager of an Instagram-famous udon noodle restaurant, said he had not noticed any immediate impact on sales in the days since China warned its citizens to avoid Japan.
“I don’t think there’s been any sudden, dramatic change,” he said, despite estimating that on a normal day around half the hungry diners who queue outside his door are Chinese.
Source: CNA
