FY2022 Summary of inquiries received by Consumer Hotline for Tourists

The Consumer Hotline for Tourists in the National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan (NCAC) offers telephone consultation that overseas visitors to Japan can use if they experience consumer issues while visiting Japan. The Consumer Hotline for Tourists is accessible in seven languages, i.e. English, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, French and Japanese with use of interpretation service through a three-way call system.

The following summary reflects inquiries received by the Consumer Hotline for Tourists in fiscal 2022.

1. Note: The Japanese fiscal year starts in April and concludes in March of the following year.

Trends and characteristics in FY2022

Inquiries received by Consumer Hotline for Tourists

• The Consumer Hotline for Tourists received 134 inquiries in fiscal 2022. The 134 inquiries consist of 68 inquiries from inbound tourists to Japan, 55 inquiries from foreign residents in Japan, 9 inquiries from Japanese and foreign nationals outside Japan and 2 inquiries from unidentified persons.
• The number of inquiries increased from 90 in fiscal 2021 to 134 in fiscal 2022. There are some factors that could have influenced the increase. The border control for international travelers has been relaxed in stages from June 10, 2022. Individual tourists have been allowed to travel to Japan and the visa exemption measures has been put in place again since October 11, 2022. Since October 2022, inquiries from overseas visitors to Japan have accounted for over half of the total inquiries received by the Consumer Hotline for Tourists.