Japan gives Shinkansen tickets to foreign tourists to visit Kagoshima

In an unprecedented move to promote tourism outside the traditional Tokyo-Kyoto route, the authorities of Kagoshima Prefecture, in collaboration with JR Kyushu, have announced a campaign to give bullet train (Shinkansen) tickets to selected foreign tourists.

The initiative seeks to attract visitors to the southern region of Kyushu, famous for its active volcano Sakurajima and its thermal sand spas. Tourists who meet certain requirements, such as entering the country through specific airports or booking stays at participating hotels in Kagoshima, will be eligible for free Shinkansen tickets between Fukuoka and Kagoshima-Chuo.

This measure comes in response to the problem of “overtourism” that is suffocating cities like Kyoto. The Japanese government is trying to diversify the destinations of the millions of travelers who arrive in the country each month, using the bullet train infrastructure as the main hook. Kagoshima is also a place of interest for anime fans, having served as inspiration for various fantasy settings and historical dramas.
This is a golden opportunity for the “otaku” traveler who wants to explore a more authentic and less crowded Japan. Kagoshima offers landscapes that look like something out of a Studio Ghibli film. The fact that the government is giving away tickets for such an expensive form of transport as the Shinkansen shows its desperation, or perhaps its determination, to balance the archipelago’s tourism economy.