Foreign presents or foreign presence? Resident perceptions of Australian and Chinese tourists in Niseko,Japan

Abstract

Over the past decade Niseko, a small ski resort in Japan, has experienced rapid growth in international tourism. Informed by a small-scale qualitative study, this article provides an account of Niseko residents’ perceptions of tourism and, more specifically, compares their responses to two key groups of inbound tourists, those from Australia and China. Where increases in the number of Australian tourists and tourism business owners have had significant influence on this previously homogeneous town, the reaction of residents to Australians is generally more positive than the response reserved for the more recent arrival of Chinese tourists. Although the former group is associated with increased living costs, leakage of profits and inappropriate behaviour, Australians were generally characterised by research participants as ‘friendly’ and ‘relaxed’ and relations were typically described as ‘harmonious’. Conversely, Chinese tourists were viewed by residents as being pushy and demanding, and these host–guest interactions were described as ‘difficult’. Drawing on Japanese notions of hospitality and residents’ discussions of cultural difference, this article explores the different reactions engendered by foreign presence, pointing as it does so to the ambivalence and contingency that underpins many host–guest relationships.

Keywords

Australian tourists Chinese tourists host–guest relations Japan resident perceptions ski tourism tourism impacts

Introduction: ski tourism in Niseko

Niseko comprises six ski areas in the Abuta district of the Shiribeshi subprefecture on the island of Hokkaido. Located on the northern tip of the Japanese archipelago, by Japanese standards it has a tiny population of 4685 people, but it receives up to 1.5 million tourists annually (Welcome to Niseko Town, 2013). The majority of these tourists are foreign ski and snowboard enthusiasts attracted by Niseko’s ranking as one of Japan’s top ski resorts. Identified as an economically successful tourist ‘hot spot’ (Ide, 2012), Niseko has been crowned as ‘the reigning prince of powder’ in the Hokkaido region and compared favourably with other well-known international ski towns (Lonely Planet, 2015). Such notoriety is, however, a relatively recent development.

Originally popular with a mostly domestic ski tourism market, it has only been since the early 2000s that Niseko and other resorts in Hokkaido have attracted inbound tourists in large numbers (Hirota, 2015). Crucially, a growing international reputation appears to have helped protect Niseko from some of the losses experienced by other Japanese ski resorts over the past two decades. Where the domestic ski tourism industry in Japan was especially strong during the 1990s (with numbers peaking at 18 million visitors in 1993), it is argued that changing snow quality (Fukushima et al., 2002), the economic downturn in Japan and an ageing population (Kureha, 2002) contributed to a marked decline in domestic visitation in the new millennium (Japan Productivity Center, 2015). Subsequently, international ski tourists have become an increasingly important market segment, with industry members targeting foreign skiers and snowboarders and arrivals from Australia and New Zealand in particular being credited with a degree of recovery in the Japanese ski tourism industry (Vanat, 2014).

Certainly, this appears the case in Niseko, where there is a marked Australian presence, which has grown substantially in recent years. Data from the Niseko Promotion Board (2015) indicates that during the 2009–2010 snow season, Niseko welcomed 65,044 Australian tourists. After 5 years, the 2014–2015 snow season saw Australian visitation rates nearly double, with 121,673 Australian tourists arriving in the town. Official tourism visitation statistics from the broader region of Hokkaido reveal a similar story. They show rapid growth in tourism, (with inbound visitation rates having doubled in the past 5 years). They also reveal high levels of Australian contribution to the tourism industry, with Australians spending almost twice as much as other overseas tourists per night of stay and their length of stays averaging 6 nights, as compared to 4.7 nights for other overseas visitors (Bureau of Tourism, 2015). While increased tourist demand bodes well for the economies of Hokkaido and Niseko, it is clear that tourism is having other effects. This article explores some of these effects, as identified by Niseko residents, and for reasons outlined below unpacks their responses to two specific tourist groups: those from Australia and China.

Background to the research

Some years prior to undertaking this research, the first author lived and worked in Sapporo, a city two hours east of Niseko. During this time (from 2007 to 2008), Japanese friends and acquaintances frequently described Niseko as being unlike other rural areas of Japan and as ‘looking like part of Australia’. Anecdotes about Australian tourists’ unruly behaviour in the town were also shared. Subsequent visits by the first author to Niseko confirmed these stories, as did media coverage that highlighted a developing Australian tourist enclave and potential issues with regard to excessive alcohol consumption and other anti-social behaviour among Australian tourists. In 2007, business magazine Japan Inc. observed that ‘Australian snow seekers’ had ‘transformed a near deserted resort – Hirafu [now the main tourist area of Niseko], into a vibrant enclave’ (Jackson, 2007). Only three years later, less glowing reports began to emerge with STAB surfing magazine (2010) claiming that ‘so bad had the drunken antics of the Australians become in the quaint ski village of Niseko, that local authorities … [had] appointed a Canadian cage fighter to keep the peace’. Such reports point to the significant impacts that tourism can have on destination communities. They also served as a trigger for the research informing this article, which was primarily concerned with investigating the perceived effects of Australian tourism on the town of Niseko.

Of course, while Australians were the original focus of this research, they are not the only foreign visitors to Niseko. Inbound travel from nearby Asian countries has increased in recent years, with large numbers of tourists from Hong Kong (30,835), Singapore (21,425), China (8179) and Taiwan (3033) also visiting Niseko in the 2014–2015 ski season (Niseko Promotion Board, 2015). It is the Chinese visitors who appear to be drawing the most attention of late, though, and who, in the course of this research, were identified by participants as ‘a problem’.

With a recent increase in direct flights from mainland China to Hokkaido, the number of Chinese inbound tourists to Hokkaido has been steadily increasing since 2007 (Foster, 2011). This is not surprising given China is acknowledged as the leading tourism market worldwide (United Nations World Tourism Organization, 2014) and Japan is identified as one of the top 10 outbound destinations for Chinese tourists (China Tourism Academy (China Tourism Acadamy, 2014). The pattern is the same in Niseko with the Kutchan Town Office reporting a mere 76 Chinese tourists to the Niseko region in 2005 but 8179 Chinese tourists in the area in 2015 (personal communication). In light of this rapid growth and the contribution it is no doubt making to the local tourism economy, it should be noted that recent research by Ji et al. (2016) has revealed that Japanese domestic tourists in Niseko feel challenged by the different manners and customs of Chinese tourists in the area. To combat such issues, in 2016, the Hokkaido Tourism Board released a guide to appropriate behaviour for Chinese tourists in Japan (Hokkaido Tourism Organisation, 2016). Detailing the ‘correct’ way to eat in restaurants, use Japanese bathroom facilities, queue, behave in shops and at hot springs, and interact with attendants and other service personnel, this brochure was apparently developed to address the issues that Japanese ‘hosts’ in Hokkaido were reporting with respect to their Chinese ‘guests’ (Hokkaido Tourism Bureau, personal communication). After receiving complaints from Chinese tourists who were offended by the brochure, the Hokkaido Tourism Bureau recently took it out of circulation. However, its very existence highlights the fact that although Chinese tourists are arriving in Niseko in much smaller numbers than Australians and other foreign groups, their presence is having a notable impact.

Niseko provides then a unique case. First, as a rather culturally homogeneous area, it has experienced rapid tourism development and undergone significant sociocultural change in a short amount of time. This change includes the emergence of an Australian tourist enclave, which other groups (including Chinese tourists) have since moved into. Second, while these visitors are a source of livelihood and can be understood as helping to rejuvenate a flailing domestic ski tourism industry, they have also been identified as a source of disruption. Subsequently, various steps have been taken to try to remedy the impacts of those tourist behaviours deemed inappropriate or culturally insensitive. Both the deployment of increased security in the case of drunken Australians and the distribution of materials seeking to educate Chinese visitors can be seen as attempts to ameliorate the negative impacts of tourism. They are also indicative of a local population, and local authorities, who are grappling with the intricacies of cultural difference and intercultural exchange.

Despite this, the region has received limited academic attention. There has been some research examining the economic contributions of nature based tourism in Niseko and Hokkaido (Ide, 2012), and others have looked at the impacts of tourism on the natural and built environment in these areas (Ichioka et al., 2009; Kanaoka et al., 2004; Kureha, 2008, 2014). However, as Kureha (2008) notes, the sociocultural impacts of ski tourism in Japan, and problems encountered by host communities in ski towns in particular, remain poorly understood. Given the Japanese Government’s International Tourism Strategy (Bureau of Tourism, 2016) focuses on encouraging international tourism spending and the use of tourism to revitalise regional areas, research examining these issues in Niseko (and other areas like it) is timely. Indeed, tourism has been identified by the Abe government as important to the economic recovery of Japan (Tahara-Stubbs, 2015), it is pertinant therefore that issues from tourist behaviour that threaten the sustainability of the industry, are addressed.

To this end, the study that is reported here aimed to identify some of the key sociocultural effects of tourism in Niseko. More specifically, the research was designed to gain insight into locals’ attitudes toward Australian tourists and the changes they perceived tourism, in general, has brought to their lives. Changes to safety levels, increased living costs, profit leakage and an increased need for English were highlighted as key issues faced by local residents. This article explores these issues and discusses the unsolicited comparisons participants drew between the Australian case and the emergent Chinese tourist culture in the region. By so doing, it contributes to a burgeoning literature examining tourism impacts and more importantly draws attention to some of the effects of ski tourism (a decidedly under-researched niche) on ‘hosts’. Arguing that the responses of Niseko residents to tourists are mediated in part by Japanese notions of hospitality, the article unpacks some of the ambivalence and contingency that emerges with respect to intercultural interaction and exchange. Before considering the particularities of tourism in Niseko though, it is necessary to develop a clearer understanding of the ‘people impacts’ of tourism (Wolf, 1977) and the more recent research field of resident attitudes to tourism.

The influence of ‘host’ and ‘guest’ dynamics on resident perceptions of tourists

The financial benefits of tourism, including increased profits, the circulation of foreign currencies and increased employment, have long been celebrated. Since the 1960s though, alongside recognition for the economic potential of tourism, there have been growing concerns with the influences that tourism may have on the cultural and social norms of destination communities. Early studies on the anthropology and sociology of tourism in particular (see, for example, Smith, 1978, 1989) demonstrated that tourist behaviours and tourism operations had the potential to impact host societies in various ways and that there was subsequently some ambivalence from local residents about the tourists who visited their communities (see, for example, Urbanowicz, 1989).

More recent research on tourism impacts and resident attitudes reveals the enduring nature of this ambivalence. Although those employed in tourism or living in tourist receiving areas have a vested interest in ensuring their interactions with tourists are positive, often they may find themselves subject to a range of incursions. What form these take and how they are experienced depends on a number of factors. These include the nature of the tourism enterprise, the size of the destination, how long tourism has been established there, residents’ previous exposure to outsiders, the nature and frequency of tourist and local interactions, and the ratio of tourists to locals (for further discussion, see Sharpley, 2014). Indeed, it is clearly established that as the number of tourists in a destination increases, their impacts are likely to be felt more keenly, especially if they then outweigh locals (Coltmar, 1989; Smith, 1989; Urbanowicz, 1989; Urry, 1990).

This argument has been supported more recently by Vargas-Sánchez et al. (2011) who, in their attempts to ascertain a universal model for measuring residents’ attitudes to tourism, contend that ‘the density of tourists’ does influence ‘in a negative direction, the overall perception of the impacts of tourism’ (pp. 475–76). In addition, they argue that the host–guest relationship is influenced by the level of control locals have (or feel they have) over how they are represented and involved in tourism and their perception of tourists’ attitudes and behaviours and whether or not these are ‘respectful’ (Vargas-Sánchez et al., 2011).

Urry (1990) suggests that other factors that need to be taken into account alongside visitor numbers and behaviour include the economic characteristics of visitors, the length of their stay, the type of activities they engage in and the extent to which heterogeneity was already a feature of the host culture. In keeping with this point, it is well documented that the ‘host’ and ‘guest’ dynamic is also influenced by the cultural compatibility of each party (see, for example, Cohen, 1982) – including whether or not they have a shared lifestyle and their relative socio-economic positioning. On the latter point, Smith (1989) has suggested that interpersonal conflicts between hosts and guests are minimal when respective standards of living are similar. However, other researchers have shown that even when standards of living are the same, tension can emerge as a result of linguistic and/or cultural differences and differing expectations for the tourist experience. For instance, in their analysis of Japanese inbound tourism to Australia, Reisinger and Turner (1998) found that despite both countries enjoying comparable standards of living, significant tensions could arise between hosts and guests due to differing expectations with respect to things like service.

Given the findings of various studies examining Japanese customer service, this is not surprising (Bjorn et al., 2013; Cheron and Nornart, 2010). According to Herbig and Palumbo (1994), Japanese businesses are strongly oriented towards providing high levels of customer service and with meeting clients’ individual needs (Herbig and Palumbo, 1994). They argue, ‘first rate service is a standard upon which all Japanese are judged’ (Herbig and Palumbo, 1994: 71). Importantly, Lebra (1976) suggests that this orientation to service or hospitality is uniquely Japanese, with the Japanese research participants in her study (as opposed to those from China and Korea) demonstrating that they experienced high levels of personal satisfaction and joy from being kind to others. They also indicated that these feelings were an intrinsic motivator for their actions. Certainly, the Japanese maxim of Oyakasuma wa kamisama desu (The customer is god; Morgan and Morgan, 1991) would support such a stance, as does the concept of kikubari which valorises the ability to anticipate and respond to another person’s needs (Kopp, 2013).

As such, discourses support a cultural orientation towards customer service and hospitality, it seems likely that they also inform the intercultural exchanges inherent to tourist and resident interactions in Niseko. To examine these in more detail, a small-scale exploratory study was carried out by the lead author in 2013 and 2014. The parameters of this study are outlined below.

Methodology

To date, a substantial component of the tourism impacts literature comprises research assessing local residents’ opinions about tourism and their perceptions of its effects on their lives, livelihood, community and well-being (Zhang, 2006). A large body of this research has been based on quantitative methods (Sharpley, 2014), a trend that is not unexpected given the extent to which quantitative research has dominated tourism studies more generally (Kim et al., 2013). In contrast, the research that underpins this article was informed by a qualitative approach that valorises in-depth investigation in small numbers.

Qualitative research methods are particularly helpful when attempting to understand tourism as a social process and to capture the intricacies of human interaction, with all of the nuances and contradictions they may entail (see, for example, Pearce and Maoz, 2008). As such, and given this research aimed to gain insight into Niseko residents’ experiences with and observations of tourism and tourists, as well as their attitudes and responses to the same in-depth semi-structured interviews were carried out by the first author over a four day period spent in Niseko in September and October 2013.

As this was a pilot study, interview numbers were kept small, with 10 interviews (comprising 11 interviewees) carried out over the four day period. While the aim was not to secure a representative sample, to ensure that a variety of voices could be heard and that the perspectives of those with and without vested interests in the success of tourism were captured, selective sampling from three specific groups (tourism employees, tourism operators and residents without a connection to tourism) was undertaken. Subsequently, three interview participants were tourism industry employees, five were tourism business owners and a final three represented a random sample of the local population. All participants were over the age of eighteen and efforts were made to attempt an even distribution of different population segments within the group studied. While the sample was small, a range of age groups, employment and life experiences were represented. The gender distribution was less balanced though, a result perhaps of the greater number of male business owners in Niseko.

Supported by a volunteer translator, the interviews were conducted prior to the peak snow season. While participants were free to take the discussion in different directions, all of the interviewees were asked a series of core questions, designed to illicit detailed responses about their interactions with tourists, involvements in tourism, feelings about foreign tourists in Niseko and Australian tourists in particular, and the influence of tourism on their lives. One of the potential issues inherent to this approach was the fact that the researcher was an Australian asking Japanese people about their feelings towards her fellow countrymen and women. There was the potential for respondents to present only positive accounts. However, as the researcher had lived and worked in Japan and cultivated a thorough understanding of Japanese cultural norms and a command of the Japanese language, the respondents tended to view the researcher as having a different perspective to the ‘average’ Australian tourist – in fact, a number of them commented on this during interviews. With this cultural understanding established, the participants felt relaxed and gave very candid responses without the presence of ‘politeness’ or other social barriers which are often in place in such situations (Haugh, 2007).

This candour, along with an achieved level of cultural understanding, was extremely helpful when it came to analysing the data. It is argued that cultural nuances must be understood if one is to avoid interpreting errors (Becker and Geer, 2004), and discussion with the Japanese interpreter who was present during interviews was also useful in this regard. Through a process of thematic content analysis whereby key words and concepts were extracted (a common approach to textual analysis; see Gibbs, 2004), a number of themes were identified. These included residents’ observations about the ‘relaxed and friendly nature of Australian tourists’, ‘inappropriate behaviour’ among Australian tourists, a ‘decrease in safety’ levels in public spaces, and concerns about ‘increased English language’ usage, ‘business and property development’, ‘flow of profits’ out of Niseko and the ‘effects of the new Chinese market’. The remainder of the article addresses each of these themes.

Niseko residents’ perceptions of tourism and tourism impacts

Attitudes of respondents towards English language in Niseko

Although none of them appeared to resent it, all of the research participants mentioned the importance of being able to communicate in English in order to live easily in Niseko today. Interviewees suggested English was now the key to employment, career advancement and an improved social life. It was also deemed a necessity if one wished to communicate with tourists and foreign residents. As Ms Suzuki, a café owner in her late forties, summarised, ‘we need English more than before’.

Interestingly though, it was not only the older participants such as Ms Suzuki who appeared to feel some pressure to be more proficient in English. Mr Hara, a guest house employee in his twenties, expressed concern that ‘the Japanese people who can speak English have more opportunities to get the job’. Mr Hara had been working in the guest house for a number of months at the time of the interview, and yet he still appeared worried by the fact that he would ‘have to speak English’ in the winter when ‘all the guests will be foreigners’. Such reticence is not uncommon as many Japanese people appear apprehensive about speaking a foreign language, even when they are quite proficient at it. Mr Tsuda, a guest house and restaurant owner in his mid-fifties, explained this phenomenon as follows:

Australian people think if you can say ‘Ohaiyo Gozaimasu’ [good morning] and ‘Konnichiwa’ [hello] they can speak Japanese, but if a Japanese person can say ‘hello’ and ‘goodnight’ they don’t think they can speak English. The Japanese people think they have to speak proper sentences to speak with foreigners. The children are okay at communicating with foreigners but still some people are scared.

Thus, while communicating in English was not always comfortable for the residents who were interviewed (many said during the course of their interviews that they felt ‘more relaxed’ with an interpreter present), each had clearly made efforts to learn English. While this is indicative of a changing local sociocultural and linguistic landscape, and pragmatic concerns with maintaining ones position in this space, it can also be linked to Japanese notions of hospitality and a desire, as one couple put it, to welcome guests ‘perfectly’.

The most significant examples of this desire came from Mr Kimura and Mr Matsuoka, older research participants who did not have any connection to the tourism industry. In the course of his interview, Mr Matsuoka insisted that the Niseko area needed to provide promotional materials in English, Japanese, Chinese and Korean so as to better accommodate different groups. Mr Kimura explained that he had used the junior high school English text book to study English for two years when in his early fifties, as he had felt that he ‘had to speak some English’. While such actions may not be common place, this willingness to adapt to the presence of foreigners appears to be and is likely encouraged by Japanese cultural precepts like kikubari. An orientation towards putting the needs of others, in this case international visitors, first is consistent with Kopp’s (2013) argument that the Japanese desire to anticipate the needs of others is so entrenched that it occurs almost as an unconscious activity. Throughout this study, concern for the well-being of international tourists (and Australian tourists in particular) frequently appeared to over-ride concerns that interviewees had about the negative consequences of tourism, some of which are outlined below.

Australian business and property development

In addition to changes to the aural and linguistic landscape of Niseko, the town has been visibly changed by the presence of international tourism. On arrival in the area, there are immediate reminders of a foreign presence. Australian beers and snacks are available as après ski refreshments in many bars and restaurants, and as noted by Yamakawa (2011), menus and road signage are provided in English. More recently, signage in Chinese has appeared in Hokkaido. Thus, once a largely homogeneous agricultural community, Niseko is now a multilingual and multicultural ski resort, brimming with luxurious hotel complexes and, as of 2012, featuring an international school (staffed by mostly Australian teachers). As Kureha (2014) has also observed, self-contained apartment developments built to accommodate the needs of Australian tourists sit alongside traditional Japanese inns, and ski chalets are advertised for sale by well-known Australian real estate agencies.

In the broader tourism literature, it is well recognised that tourism destinations often attempt to strike an acceptable balance between what is familiar to the tourist and what is foreign (see, for example, Franklin, 2003). With this in mind, Theroux (1985) suggests that tourists are often seeking a ‘home plus experience’. This means that they are essentially looking for the comforts of home (i.e. home style accommodation, familiar food) plus a particular experience such as snow in Niseko or cultural performance in Kyoto. In her study of ski tourism in St Anton, Austria, McGibbon (2000) observed this trend, noting that tourism operators aimed to provide familiar and home like experiences to their guests in addition to the experience of skiing. While this may well be a case of being ‘market savvy’, in Niseko it is also tied to a culturally entrenched desire to provide hospitality and to put foreign visitors at ease. However, while Australian businesses and products provide a sense of the familiar, thus making life easier for Australian tourists and expatriates, the financial implications of Australian development emerged as another key issue during interviews with local residents.

Seven of the eleven interviewees raised concerns about the effects of Australian business and property development on the area. This trend seemed particularly worrying for those who were older and/or had grown up in Niseko and who were (as business and property owners) more likely to be impacted by foreign ownership. When asked about how Niseko had changed in their lifetimes, comments such as the following were not uncommon from these participants:

More foreign people have started businesses and less and less Japanese people are starting businesses. (Mr Tanaka, guest house owner, mid-fifties)

The biggest change is that in Hirafu eighty percent of business owners are foreigners. (Mr Tsuda, guest house and restaurant owner, mid-fifties)

While the increase in foreign investment and foreign tourism businesses was in and of itself a source of concern for participants, others pointed to the fact that this had resulted in inflated property prices and Japanese residents being priced out of the local property market. Young people in particular were identified as being impacted by this, with many unable to afford property. When approached by the lead author, the local government office in Niseko was unwilling to provide statistical evidence regarding the percentage of foreign property owners in Niseko. Kureha (2014) estimates though that foreigners own approximately eighty percent of the apartment accommodation in Niseko (an estimate which, incidentally, corresponds with Mr Tsuda’s claims, above). In addition, the self-contained apartments that have been constructed in Niseko are usually leased by Australian agents (Kureha, 2014), which in turn impacts local guest house owners with more traditional accommodation offerings. Subsequently, a number of participants were upset about profits from tourism flowing outside of Niseko and back to Australia.

In addition to the primary concerns of increased land costs, reduced Japanese business ownership and leakage, participants identified some unexpected effects of Australian business and property development. For example, Mr Tanaka commented that as ‘the method of calculating the insurance of the health is based on property tax … ours has gone up’. Ms Suzuki pointed to the fact that with the increase in property prices (and hence, values), some Japanese people were leaving the area, taking the opportunity to sell land for a premium to Australian buyers and then live more cheaply elsewhere. She observed,

The Japanese used to own the land, [but] they sold it and then they left … If a guest house does not have any children to succeed them, they would sell the business to get the money.

Mr and Mrs Tanaka also reported that they had experienced problems with Australian property developers, who were inclined to build according to the law but pay little regard to the impacts of their development on their neighbours. Indicating that there were significant cultural differences between Australians and Japanese people in this regard, Mr Tanaka explained that for a Japanese person the primary concern is not to build the biggest house legally possible on a particular block of land, but to minimise any impact upon those nearby. Importantly, the desire to live harmoniously with others is well reflected in the literature on Japanese culture and identified as a component of how Japanese people engage with others (Kato, 1991; Zhang et al., 2005) even, it seems, when those others are foreign tourists.

Such comments demonstrate that while residents may benefit financially from tourism (many of the interviewees quoted above did), they were well aware of the financial and sociocultural costs of tourism to locals. Although this is the double-bind that many tourism-receiving communities are placed in, it seems compounded in Niseko by a desire to provide good hospitality to foreigners. Drawing upon their Japanese cultural identity in their role as hosts, those in the tourism industry as well as those outside of it wanted to welcome tourists and ensure they were comfortable. The natural result of this in the case of Australian tourists is English language usage, adapted menus and facilities and, finally, Australian property and business development. However, these trends, along with particular forms of Australian tourist behaviour, were in turn perceived as impacting the way in which people in the community of Niseko were living.

Australian tourists’ behaviour

During the interviews, respondents were asked what they thought about Australians who visited Niseko, and significantly two somewhat contradictory pictures emerged. The first of these characterised Australians as relaxed, easy going and fun. It identified that the presence of Australians had contributed to the development of the Niseko area as a unique space where different cultures could live together, making it ‘unlike other parts of Japan’. The second image characterised Australians as drinking too much and engaging in behaviour that is culturally inappropriate and/or dangerous. It is interesting to note that when asked directly what they thought of Australians, all of the interview respondents gave extremely positive answers, stating, for example, that Australians were ‘very cheerful and good at compliments’ (Mr Tanaka, guest house owner, mid-fifties) and that they were ‘very open minded, very friendly … [and] … relaxed’ (Mr Shimoda, guest house owner, early thirties). As evidence of Australian tourists’ relaxed natures, Mr Shimoda went on to say, ‘Even if there is a big problem, they [Australians] say “no problem”’. Some respondents also compared Australian culture with Japanese culture and talked about the relationship between the two groups as being extremely harmonious:

We [Niseko locals] don’t feel much difference with Australian people. (Mr Kimura, Automotive shop worker, mid-fifties)

We keep harmony and cooperate with each other well. (Ms Sato, Cafe owner, late forties)

I think Australian’s are the best. Australians are a bit countrified not very cosmopolitan. They get on well with Japanese. (Mr Tsuda, guest house owner, mid-fifties)

These responses reveal that the participants had quite uniform perceptions of Australians as being friendly and relaxed. The interviewees frequently used words and phrases such as ‘harmony’, ‘cooperate’ and ‘get on well’ to describe the relationship they had with Australians, suggesting that it was a positive one (and again highlighting the importance of harmony to many Japanese people). As will be discussed below, they compared Australians with other tourist groups that were arriving in the town, indicating that Australians were much easier to deal with. However, during the course of the interviews, attention was also drawn to some of the anti-social behaviour associated with Australian tourists and stories were shared by participants that corroborated the media reports and anecdotal evidence prompting this study.

Concern about the behaviour of tourists was a theme that emerged strongly in the interviews with the older female participants in particular. They felt that tourist behaviour compromised their safety, especially at night. For example, Mrs Tanaka, who owned a guest house with her husband, observed, ‘when we have many foreign tourists especially at night, we tend to go out less because there are fights. So we stay inside’. Similarly, Ms Suzuki highlighted the potential for conflict, especially when the Australian tourists were drinking:

We are talking only about Australians, it’s normal, natural for them to drink, to enjoy. I think it’s a different culture. They have fights, Japanese are small Australians are big. If you see a Japanese policeman, Australians might think he is not strong.

By way of contrast, the one younger female participant involved in the study (who was working in the tourism industry at a guest house) did not voice any concerns about tourist behaviour, perhaps because she had lived for a short time in Sydney and was more accustomed to Australian social behaviours. On the other hand, while male respondents appeared generally less fearful of anti-social tourist behaviour and potentially more accepting of it, some of them acknowledged its existence and, by so doing, identified it as a problem:

In the resort area they [Australians] drink. Sometimes I go to Hirafu and drink and eat and in the resort area they drink and sometimes fight. The foreigners [that is], not the Japanese. (Mr Matusoka, retired random sample participant, mid-sixties)

Many of the statements provided by participants naturalised Australians’ drinking habits, reflecting perhaps the notion that drinking culture is deeply ingrained in Australian society and a prominent feature of Australians’ holidays (Edelheim and Edelheim, 2011; Gordon et al., 2011). While there has not been extensive research on this topic, it does seem that a connection is likely, especially as we do know that national culture can play a significant role in the behaviour of tourists (Fowler, 2006) and that the liminal spaces of tourism can encourage starkly different or at least exaggerated behaviours as compared to those exhibited at home (Matthews, 2014; Salenniemi, 2003). While it was not the aim of this research to examine alcohol consumption in Australian tourists specifically, these findings do point to a need for further research in this area, particularly when such behaviours impact members of destination communities and likely contribute to other forms of inappropriate tourist behaviour. For instance, Mr Tanaka, a guest house owner, brought up his concern about intoxicated tourists setting off fireworks on roof tops, commenting that where tourists were inclined to engage in risky behaviours simply because they could, Japanese people ‘know not to do it’, observing that ‘we know it’s natural not to do it, even with no regulation [preventing this behaviour]’.

It is clear then that the impacts of tourism in Niseko were not seen by the participants in this study as being uniformly positive. While tourism was seen to bring some financial gains and contributed to making the area more cosmopolitan and vibrant, it was recognised that this came at a cost. Similarly, while Australians were described in generally positive terms, some of their actions (such as domination of the property market, excessive alcohol consumption and/or inappropriate behaviour such as fighting) were identified as being more problematic. Despite these issues and the implications for research participants, individuals in this study demonstrated an approach to hospitality that was clearly informed by Japanese values oriented to anticipating the needs of international visitors and motivated by a desire to provide exemplary hospitality experiences. As discussed above, such contradictory positioning is in keeping with earlier research on tourism impacts and resident attitudes to tourists. It is further highlighted by comparing interviewees’ impressions of Australians with their unsolicited observations about the more recent influx of Chinese tourists to the area.

Residents’ attitudes towards Chinese tourists in Niseko

While the purpose of this study was to determine how Australian tourism was influencing the lives of local residents in Niseko, it became apparent during the interview process and subsequent analysis that another group of tourists – the Chinese – was having a significant impact. In particular, unsolicited comments from interviewees made it clear that Chinese tourists were perceived (especially by business owners) as being more problematic than the Australian tourists who were the focus of this research, despite the fact that they visit the town in much smaller numbers.

While this issue was not commonly raised by the younger interview participants, older participants and tourism business owners made unprompted mention of an increase in Chinese tourists to the area and spoke of the difficulties this new group posed. For example, Mr Tsuda (a guest house and restaurant owner in his mid-fifties) described how and why he uses Australian staff as a ‘buffer zone’ between Chinese guests and Japanese staff:

[The Chinese tourists] change their order, their dishes, [and are] very demanding and insisting … They think they don’t want to lose against the Japanese, they want to pay as little as possible … so even if a Japanese [person] is fluent in English it doesn’t work, if we have Australians to speak it’s different … Chinese complain a lot towards Japanese. It may be partly because of education, they are educated against Japanese, they easily complain to Japanese, [but] not to Australians or Europeans. [Then] they behave more.

Mr Tsuda’s responses revealed that his experiences interacting with Chinese tourists had been uncomfortable and confrontational. They were markedly different from how he described his interactions with Australian tourists, who he observed were ‘very friendly’ and who he argued ‘get on well with Japanese’ people. Similarly, where Ms Suzuki had previously discussed the cultural mix in Niseko as ‘interesting’, she went on to observe that the Chinese were ‘a bit difficult’, revealing that there is some ambivalence here.

Some of this inconsistency can be understood as the consequence of historical tensions between China and Japan, with each group potentially holding unfavourable impressions of the ‘Other’. Certainly, this interpretation is supported by a recent study from Ji et al. (2016) who examined travel blogs to understand the emotional experiences of Chinese tourists in Japan. They found that Chinese tourists experienced ‘feelings of resistance’ (Ji et al., 2016: 649) related to past Sino–Japanese relations. They argued that with reflection these were transformed into ‘feelings of admiration’ (Ji et al., 2016: 650) for the natural beauty and quality of life in Japan, demonstrating both the existing tensions between the groups and, importantly for host–guest relations in Niseko, the capacity for change. Given the limited research conducted on cross-cultural relations between Chinese tourists and Japanese host communities, when attempting to understand why there seems to be more fractious interactions between these groups, it is useful to consider previous research that has attempted to understand the motivation and behaviours of Chinese tourists and their interactions with locals in other tourism destinations.

Studies have shown that Chinese tourists may approach travel in unique ways, adopting behaviours when abroad and holding expectations that can impact harmonious relations with hosts (Chan, 2006; Kimes, 2013; Pan, 2014; Pearce et al., 2013). For example, while Pearce et al. (2013) note that shopping is a sought-after activity among many Chinese tourists, Xiang (2013) suggests that Chinese tourists place a high priority on receiving low prices and high value and prefer to haggle or negotiate when interacting with a tourism service provider. Additionally, while Chinese tourists may be informed by traditional concerns with ‘social harmony’, according to Pearce et al. (2013) this does not preclude disagreement or conflict. Couple this with a tendency to omit ‘thank you’ when making a request and inclination towards brief and functional communications with strangers (Fang, 2011) and it is perhaps no surprise that hosts from different cultural backgrounds may deem the Chinese, as the Vietnamese participants in Chan’s (2006: 194) study did, ‘rude and impolite’. Certainly, this is likely in the Japanese context, where there are high expectations for honorific language in customer service interactions (Dunn, 2011).

On the basis of these trends, it seems likely that what the Japanese host considers important and what the Chinese guest values are almost in opposition. If an understanding of these differences is not held by either party, it is understandable that the Japanese hosts in Niseko may be feeling some dissatisfaction with their interactions with Chinese guests. That said, this still doesn’t explain why the Chinese tourists drew such a negative response from the participants in this study as compared to the Australian tourists, particularly given the interviewees’ comments regarding the less positive ramifications of Australian tourism and Australian tourist behaviour. Despite the perceived negative impacts of Australian tourism in Niseko, the participants repeatedly reported Australian tourists as easier to deal with than Chinese tourists.

For example, Mr Kimura, one of the random sample participants, observed that ‘about four years ago … Chinese people started to come [here] and I realised that it was easier to be with Australian people. Australian people are easier for us’. Those interviewees involved in the tourism industry expressed the same sentiment. Ms Suzuki observed, for instance, that ‘Australians are easier to cope with’. While such comments again highlight the comparisons being made by residents about different groups of tourists, the use of the word ‘cope’ by Ms Suzuki is particularly revealing. It emphasises the fact that while she may find Australian tourists easier to deal with, there is still an element of difficulty involved in her relationship with them.

In addition to the two groups having different service expectations, the fact that this difficulty is reduced in the case of Australian tourists, and more pronounced with Chinese tourists, may result from increased familiarity over time. Personal communications with staff at the Hokkaido Tourism Bureau (received in 2016) also suggest that it may result from key differences in the two groups’ motivations for visiting Niseko. While Australian tourists may visit in small groups to ski and snowboard (and perhaps socialise of an evening), Chinese tourists visit in large tour groups (a trend noted more generally among Chinese tourists (see Pearce et al., 2013)) and have therefore a more visible presence. Ultimately, though, more research is needed to better understand these contradictory stances.

While this research did not aim specifically to examine the influence of Chinese tourism in the Niseko area, it emerged as a key issue for participants – one that does not appear to have abated since interviews were conducted in 2013. Therefore, understanding the cultural differences between Chinese tourists and Japanese hosts is an area of tourism research that requires future attention. In addition, aligning with the work of Pearce and Packer (2013), such research should be carried out not just with reference to residents but also with reference to Chinese tourists, so as to better understand their motivations, interactions and experiences.

Conclusion

Aware that the Niseko area was undergoing dramatic changes as a result of rapid, recent developments in international ski tourism, and equipped with the knowledge resident perception studies could be used to alleviate tensions between hosts and guests, this study set out to examine the sociocultural effects of Australian tourism in Niseko, as perceived by local residents. While the research was exploratory in nature and thus small-scale by design, it was supported by a qualitative research method that focused on extracting rich and detailed information from participants about their experiences with and observations of tourism in their town.

In the course of interviews with local residents, comments would repeatedly be made about the increased need for English language in the town and increased foreign property ownership and the changes this had brought. Concerns were raised about the flow of profit out of the Niseko area, increased living costs and problematic behaviours among Australian tourists (most notably with respect to excessive alcohol consumption and fighting). While such behaviours were normalised by some (as typically Australian), others felt that they impacted their sense of safety and security, especially at night. Interestingly though, these same participants still tended to describe Australian tourists in positive terms (as ‘friendly’, ‘easy-going’ and ‘relaxed’), identified the positive financial contributions they (and other tourists) made to the town and strived to ‘welcome them perfectly’. While the latter goal might be seen as a natural response to tourists when one benefits economically from their presence, we have suggested that it also manifests from a deep rooted sense of duty linked to Japanese cultural identity. The way in which all of the interviewees, including those not involved in tourism welcomed, interacted with and managed the behaviour of tourists, particularly Australian tourists, seems to be linked to the idea of putting the needs of the other person first and concepts like kikubari. Even with the negative sociocultural impacts of tourism and the discomfort this at times caused, it was evident that interviewees had an exceptionally committed attitude towards catering to the needs of international tourists and providing exceptional levels of service.

These stances are undoubtedly paradoxical though and the contradictory and complex nature of participants’ engagements with tourism and tourists was further highlighted when a number of research participants introduced the topic of Chinese visitation to the area. Despite Australian tourists being associated with a number of negative tourism impacts in the town, they were still seen as being favourable to this new group of tourists, who were identified as being more difficult to deal with and less culturally compatible. Ultimately, while residents in Niseko clearly aimed to make tourists feel welcome (not just for the promise of financial gain but because this is an integral part of Japanese culture), this objective seemed to be tested by the more recent arrival of Chinese tourists.

Such findings point to the fact that tourists may be a gift to locals – bringing in this case economic wealth and cultural vibrancy (with a number of participants observing that they enjoyed the more cosmopolitan atmosphere that had emerged in their town as a result of international tourism). However, tourism can also dramatically change the sociocultural dynamics established within a community. In Niseko, many locals had moved away due to increased costs of living and inflated property prices and some reported avoiding certain areas as a result of tourist presence. In keeping with earlier research on the topic, such trends suggest that resident perceptions of and attitudes towards tourists may be highly ambivalent and host–guest relationships extremely contingent and contextual.

This exploratory study sheds light on an under-researched tourism destination and identifies that there are numerous factors influencing host and guest interactions and relationships in Niseko. Further investigation is necessary, though, in order to better understand these dynamics and to identify just how widespread are the concerns raised by research participants in this study within the broader Niseko community. While all host destinations and their communities must be recognised as operating within and being influenced by a global context, the effects of tourism cannot be ignored. Indeed, in Niseko, many of these effects are highly visible, and it seems that for locals to be able to move beyond a position of simply ‘coping’ with or managing tourist presence, greater intercultural understanding (and therefore research into the cultural misunderstandings that may exist) is warranted.

Footnotes

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The lead author received financial assistance from Western Sydney University to partially fund the travel for this research.

Author biographies

Kim Nelson is a PhD candidate at Charles Sturt University, Australia. Her doctoral research is exploring the influence of tourism on the self-identities of guesthouse owners in Niseko, Japan.

Amie Louise Matthews is a lecturer and researcher in Sociology and Tourism Studies in the School of Social Sciences and Psychology at Western Sydney University. Her research interests include backpacker and youth travel, the socio-cultural effects of tourism and tourist ethics.

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