To make this trip, tourist C left Naha at 6 a.m., transferring between public buses and shuttle services. After a 12-hour round trip, she only managed to experience two attractions.
Upon entering the theme park, she realized that although the area was vast, the number of actual attractions was surprisingly limited.
According to the official website, the adult ticket price for Japanese residents is 6,930 yen (about RMB 46), while foreign tourists are charged 8,800 yen (about RMB 58). For the same facilities and services, overseas visitors end up paying nearly 100 RMB more.
In response to the controversy, the park’s operator gave a rather “frank” explanation: foreign tourists have stronger spending power, so differential pricing is justified.
According to data from the Japan Tourism Agency, in the first quarter of 2025, the average spending per inbound tourist reached 223,000 yen (USD 1,482)—three times that of domestic travelers.
This has prompted some regions in Japan to experiment with tiered pricing. In addition to the Jurassic Park in Okinawa, Himeji Castle—a UNESCO World Heritage site in Hyogo Prefecture—has announced that it will introduce separate ticket prices for domestic and international visitors starting in March 2026.
In June this year, the Japanese government and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party launched a series of discussions aimed at one clear goal: to have foreign tourists shoulder more of the tax burden.
The numbers reflect the tourism boom. From April to June, foreign visitors spent 2.525 trillion yen (USD 16.8 billion) in Japan, an 18% year-on-year increase and a new quarterly record.
