The latest Japan Tourism Agency’s survey finds that the most troublesome thing for international visitors in Japan was ‘communications with Japanese staff (32.9%),’ followed by ‘shortage of free Wi-Fi spots (27.8%)’ and ‘shortage and hard-to-understand of multi-language signage (23.6%).’ In reverse, the ratio of ‘no trouble’ reached 30%.
Compared to the survey results in 2014, the ratio of ‘shortage of free Wi-Fi spots’ reduced from 46.6%, however the reduction rate of ‘communications with Japanese staff’ was just three points.
The table below shows major troubles in traveling Japan in 2016:
In detail, troubles with ‘shortage of free Wi-Fi spots’ were found in train (24.7%), followed by in bus (19.5%) and in station (18.2%). With regard to communications, the most troubles were found in restaurants and retail shops in Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Kyoto (23.1%), followed by in railway stations and terminals (12.2%).
Regarding of usage of public transportation, the ratios of no problem were 42.4% for flights, 42% for Shinkansen and 66.1% for railways except Shinkansen. Dissatisfactions with railways were found in boarding, signage, announcement, seat booking or expensive fares.
The survey was conducted at major airports and seaports in Japan in the period from August to October 2016. 5,332 answers were collected, and respondents consisted of visitors from China (20.1%), Taiwan (16.5%), Korea (14.6%), U.S. (9.9%) and so forth. The first timers to Japan accounted for 47.4% of the total.
