Measuring Foreign Visitor Impact in Kagurazaka Through a Food Globalization Index
While overtourism is a significant concern in many popular tourist destinations in Japan, such as Kyoto and Hakone, it is rare to see foreign tourists in Shinjuku's Kagurazaka. However, as there are no official statistics on the rate of foreign visitors to Kagurazaka, we could only rely on individual impressions that few foreigners visit the area.
To address this, we created a globalization index focused on "food" and calculated its correlation with the rate of foreign visitors. According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's "2023 Survey on Foreign Tourists' Behavior by Country and Region," the top activity for foreigners visiting Tokyo was "enjoying Japanese food" (93.3%), making a globalization index related to food a valid indicator for estimating foreign visitor rates in Kagurazaka.
High Correlation Between Foreign Visitor Rates and Food Globalization Index in Tokyo's Top Areas
In the same survey, the top three places visited by foreign tourists were Shibuya (67.1%), Shinjuku-Okubo (57.4%), and Ginza (50.1%). We extracted data on the availability of "English menus" and "vegetarian menus" from Tabelog, Japan's largest gourmet website, for these top seven areas, as well as for Kagurazaka-Iidabashi, Tokyo as a whole, and Japan as a whole. English and vegetarian menus are often set up primarily for foreign tourists, making them suitable indicators for the globalization index related to food.
Proportion of Restaurants with English and Vegetarian Menus
Source: Tabelog
Note: Data is within an 800-meter radius of each station. For multiple stations, the average value is shown.
When considering the proportion of restaurants within an 800-meter radius of each station that offer "English menus" and "vegetarian menus" as the globalization index for food, the rankings were as follows: Shibuya (24.9%), Shinjuku-Okubo (21.6%), and Ginza (21.5%). These rankings match the visit rates. The correlation coefficient between the visit rate and the globalization index for food in the top seven regions was 0.87 (with 1.00 being a perfect positive correlation), indicating a very high correlation.
Foreign Visitor Rate and Globalization Index
Source: Tabelog, Tokyo Metropolitan Government
Note: The Globalization Index is the sum of the proportion of English menus and vegetarian menus.
This suggests that we can estimate visit rates using the globalization index for food. Kagurazaka-Iidabashi's globalization index for food (the average of the values within an 800-meter radius of Kagurazaka Station on the Tokyo Metro Tozai Line and Iidabashi Station on the JR line) was 12.7%, significantly lower than the top tourist destinations, but slightly higher than Tokyo as a whole (10.5%). This suggests that fewer foreign tourists visit Kagurazaka compared to Tokyo's popular tourist spots. The lower number of foreign tourists likely reduces the necessity of having English or vegetarian menus.
However, increasing the number of English or vegetarian menus does not necessarily mean that more foreign tourists will visit. It simply means that there is a high correlation between the globalization index for food and visit rates.
Kagurazaka: Authentic Japanese Charm Free from Overtourism
The relatively low globalization index for food in Kagurazaka should not be seen as a negative. The low number of foreign tourists means that Kagurazaka is free from overtourism and, despite being in the heart of Tokyo, retains its authentic Japanese charm.
Feedback from participants in our Kagurazaka walking tour included comments like "A wonderful and informative tour of 'REAL' Japanese life. I highly recommend it." For travelers who want to see and feel Japan itself, rather than navigating overcrowded tourist areas full of foreign tourists, Kagurazaka is the ideal place. If a restaurant has only Japanese menus, this can be overcome by hiring a Japanese guide or using translation apps.
I previously wrote a blog titled "Are You a Traveler or a Tourist? If You Are a Traveler, Come to Shinjuku Kagurazaka," and indeed, Kagurazaka is a town where intellectually curious and adventurous travelers should visit.
Kagurazaka is a diverse town where new and old cultures, including samurai culture, temple town culture, geisha culture, French culture, and shopping street culture, are exquisitely mixed. Moreover, Kagurazaka, which is also a residential area, offers a glimpse of "REAL" Japanese life. It is a town more suited to travelers than tourists.
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How to Access Kagurazaka
The Kagurazaka area is conveniently located within 30 minutes from any major station in Tokyo. This is because Kagurazaka is situated in the heart of Tokyo, at the center of the Yamanote Line. Please come and visit this convenient and charming Kagurazaka.
It's really interesting to see the local's real life.