The “expensive but sellable” grilled fish set menus are over 20,000 yen! New York” is popular despite high prices and deteriorating security, and “Japan” is in a bubble due to the weak yen.

Everything is “cheap” in Japan, while New York City is “expensive” and has strong demand for travel

The number of inbound travelers to Japan has been growing tremendously. In October 2012, the number of inbound travelers to Japan exceeded 30 million*, the fastest ever. This is a 30% increase from the pre-Corona year of 2007. (*Preliminary figures released by the Japan National Tourism Organization)

The reason for this is not only that Japan is an internationally attractive tourist destination, but also the historical “depreciation of the yen. In particular, when visitors from developed countries such as Europe and the United States come to Japan, “everything is cheap. As a result, the market price of hotels in Japan has skyrocketed.

On the other hand, New York City in the U.S. is one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations. The number of tourists who visited the city after the COVID-19 crisis reached 62.2 million last year, close to the pre-COVID-19 record high of 64.8 million, and is expected to increase further to 64.8 million in 2012. Of these, less than 20% are international travelers. Hotels in New York are said to cost on average “over 60,000 yen per night,” and local prices are rising rapidly.

The same is true for the increasing number of travelers, but what is the difference between Japan, where the weak yen attracts travelers, and New York, where travelers continue to arrive despite the high cost of hotels and restaurants? In December 2012, the author, who visited New York for the first time in about 10 years, examined the differences based on the hottest new spots, actual experiences in the area, and other factors.

Tickets for the popular observation deck sold out weeks in advance.

The first thing I felt when I visited New York this time was “liveliness. New York has always been on the cutting edge, and new spots are popping up one after another, each time creating a buzz. Especially at night, Rockefeller Center and Fifth Avenue were filled with so many people that it was difficult to move, and the boulevards were jammed with cars and other vehicles all the time.

The 335-meter-high Summit Observation Deck at One Vanderbilt, a skyscraper near Grand Central Station, opened in October 2009. Surrounded by glass and mirrors, it is a novel experience that makes visitors feel as if they are floating in mid-air, and is a popular photo spot.

To visit this summit, I purchased my ticket several weeks in advance on the official website. At that point, the sunset time slot was already sold out. The total ticket price was $67.51, which included the admission fee plus the evening surcharge and the settlement fee. Even though we had already purchased our reservations, the entrance was a long line, and it took about 30 minutes to get through airport-like security checks to reach the observation deck. Indeed, it felt like a theme park, not just a place to enjoy the view.

While the opening of new stores continues, New York brands popular in Japan are closing one after another.

The High Line, an abandoned elevated railroad line that was converted into a park, will be extended to Hudson Yards in March 2007. Hudson Yards is the last large-scale redevelopment project in Manhattan, and the Mitsui Fudosan Group has been working on it for some time. I had a feeling that the area would become even more attractive in the future.