KYOTO - Kyoto is stepping up efforts to capture Japan's growing nighttime economy, with Toei Kyoto Studio Park extending its hours to 9 p.m., a new theater drawing visitors near Kyoto Station and nighttime tours expanding in Gion as the city seeks to encourage tourists to stay out longer and explore more areas after dark.
Toei Kyoto Studio Park, the theme park in Kyoto's Uzumasa district built around film and period drama sets, has moved aggressively into nighttime entertainment as it marks 50 years since opening.
As part of a renovation this year, the park extended its closing time from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. New lighting was installed throughout the grounds to create a nighttime atmosphere, while the number of restaurants and other food outlets was tripled from three to nine, with alcohol and a wider range of food available.
The park has also expanded entertainment aimed at adults. A traditional "cho-han" dice gambling experience, previously held only occasionally, is now staged every day. No real money is wagered, and participation is limited to visitors aged 18 and older.
Visitors said the evening atmosphere provided a different experience from the daytime park, with some describing it as entertainment designed more specifically for adults.
About five months after the nighttime operations began, the park says the makeup of its visitors has started to change.
Customers in their 20s and 30s have increased substantially, particularly during the evening hours, when the proportion of younger adults becomes especially high.
The park said this has given it confidence in the strategy. Growth in foreign visitors has been more gradual, but the share of inbound tourists is steadily rising, and operators hope summer Bon dancing and events planned for the fall will produce a sharp increase.
Attracting both domestic and overseas visitors for longer periods has become a broader challenge for Kyoto's tourism industry.
The Kyoto Chamber of Commerce and Industry, working with companies including SoftBank, has been analyzing mobile phone location data to study the movements of people visiting Kyoto from elsewhere in Japan.
Heat maps based on the data show distinctive patterns across major tourist areas. Kawaramachi, which has a large concentration of restaurants, draws crowds from daytime into the evening, while Kinkakuji attracts larger numbers from daytime through late afternoon.
Kyoto Station shows a different pattern, with its peak appearing later in the day.
An associate professor at Nagasaki University who analyzed the data said large numbers of people gather around the northern and southern sides of Kyoto Station, including areas containing many hotels.
The challenge, the researcher said, is determining where those people can be encouraged to go once they have finished conventional daytime sightseeing.
Some visitors appear to return to their hotels or head toward Kyoto Station to catch trains because they have run out of things to do. With more capacity available at night, creating evening attractions could help disperse visitors and extend their time in the city.
One new effort to address the shortage of attractions around Kyoto Station began in April, when a dedicated theater for Japanese performance group DRUM TAO opened in the area.
DRUM TAO has attracted a cumulative audience of 10 million people in Japan and overseas. The theater is jointly operated with major real estate developer Nomura Real Estate, marking the Nomura Real Estate Group's first venture into theater management.
The company sees growing demand for experiences rather than simply goods and views entertainment as a new way to create value.
Kyoto Station was selected because large numbers of tourists already gather in the area, making it well suited to nighttime entertainment.
Performances are held twice each evening, starting at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. The theater also has a bar counter and an outdoor area where visitors can enjoy views of Kyoto at night.
Operators say they plan to continue improving the venue so that the performance, drinks and surrounding environment can be enjoyed as a complete entertainment experience.
Gion, one of Kyoto's best-known traditional districts, has meanwhile become a major center for foreign-oriented night tours.
Guided groups walk through the streets while learning not only about the district itself but also about Kyoto's culture, customs and history. Similar tours can now be seen throughout the area as demand grows.
An operator running one of the night tours said the number of visitors to Japan has risen rapidly and the number of companies offering tours has also grown at a double-digit pace.
The expansion has increased the overall market but also divided customers among a growing number of operators, leaving some established companies facing a temporary slowdown in their own growth.
The rapid growth has also created problems.
Some tour operators do not follow local community rules, highlighting the need for clearer standards governing businesses entering the market.
Tour companies also face pressure to ensure their customers understand appropriate behavior in residential and traditional neighborhoods.
One operator said guides are instructed to explain tourism etiquette clearly to customers and stressed the importance of building relationships with local communities so problems can be addressed quickly when they occur.
Japan's nighttime economy is estimated to be worth about 22 trillion yen.
With the sector still developing and issues involving tourism etiquette, community relations and business rules yet to be fully resolved, Kyoto sees considerable room for further growth as it works to turn the hours after sunset into a larger part of the city's tourism economy.
Source: Television OSAKA NEWS
