2024-03-21 21:01:51
“Even if the hourly wage is 1,500 yen (approximately RMB 73.45), no one comes. Everyone goes to the mountains to make money.” The Niseko mountain range in western Hokkaido is loved by ski enthusiasts around the world for its majestic landscape and high-quality powder snow. This is a gorgeous mountainous area where high-end hotels and luxury stores are crowded with foreign tourists. In a small town about 10 minutes’ drive from here, a business that provides home care was forced to close this winter.
“When we need care, do we have to leave the city?” complained Eiichi Kamada (71), who drives a taxi in the town of Tochiyasu, one of the most snowy areas in Hokkaido. Kamata, who traveled around the Niseko area with many tourists, was facing a bleak future due to the tourism boom in his later years.
Niseko is bustling with foreign tourists (January 31, Kachian Town, Hokkaido)
In Tezhian Town, which is visited by more than 1 million tourists every year, the number of beds in accommodation facilities reaches 16,000, which is basically the same as the local population. In winter, workers from home and abroad will come here, but there is still a serious shortage of manpower. The effective recruitment rate related to winter reception in 2023 is more than 9 times, and the mountain even recruits cleaners with an hourly salary of 2,000 yen (approximately RMB 97.92).
The home care business, which was closed in December 2023 due to staff shortages and other reasons, has about 20 users. Toshiko Saito, the director of the Tochiyasu Social Welfare Council, who has taken over some users, said frankly, “The situation here is also very serious. As long as one person rests, the site will be overwhelmed.” Due to the shortage of nursing staff, some users have had to reduce the use of services to a third.
Although the company is recruiting with a maximum hourly wage of 1,500 yen, it has been unable to recruit people in recent years. Rising land prices are causing rents to rise, while there are limits to wage increases in the care sector. Saito said, “It is very hard to provide home care in areas with deep snow. If the hourly salary is 2,000 yen, we will not be chosen.”
The excessive concentration of tourists distorts the local labor market. The front lines of the tourism industry are also under tremendous pressure. The Takayama Labor Standards Inspection Office, which governs areas such as Hida Takayama, which is famous for its ancient streets, announced in August 2023 that it would supervise and guide hotel operators. It was found that 90% violated laws and regulations on labor conditions.
Kazuki Fukui, Associate Professor (Tourism Geography) at Japan University of Economics and Trade, pointed out in response to the closure of nursing offices in Niseko, “If we cannot recruit people, it will lead to workers leaving nursing jobs. The crisis of services that support life will eventually Threaten the tourism industry.”
Fukui proposed specific measures such as using taxes collected from tourists to support employment in other industries and restrict development, calling on “the administrative department to think about sustainable mechanisms.”
Nippon Keijyo Shimbun (Chinese version: Nichike Chubun Net) Hirotaka Tamaoka, Tetsuya Yamazaki, Keita Shimoda, Seishi Minowa
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