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GINZA, Japan: Japan is one of the few Asian countries that does not celebrate the Lunar New Year.
But with department stores suffering from falling sales, businesses are starting to attract the holiday crowds from neighbouring countries.
Japan used to be rather unaccommodating towards foreign tourists, but over the past few years, the country has begun to implement various tourist services and support to boost sales.
Returning five per cent consumption tax to foreign shoppers is a service provided at most department stores in Tokyo.
Bilingual sales staff are gaining in popularity, especially those who can speak in Mandarin, as shops in the glitzy Ginza district in Tokyo are eager to attract more Chinese customers during the festive Lunar New Year period.
The shopping belt has leaflets and maps printed for Chinese tourists, more shops are accepting Chinese banking cards and some even offer complimentary gifts for shoppers from China.
The Mitsukoshi department store in Ginza went a step further, opening a whole new area just for Chinese visitors.
Said Masatoshi Nitta, manager of Sales Promotion at Ginza Mitsukoshi: "Last Lunar New Year, we had Chinese speakers work in the cosmetics section. This Lunar New Year, we opened a new area for Chinese visitors. It's the first time."
Japan's largest cosmetics maker even flew in two beauty consultants from its Shanghai outlet for better communication with Chinese tourists.
Tourists from China are on the rise - passing the one million mark - even though overall visitor arrivals fell last year.
"We tend to think overseas tourists' consumption will be positive on the economy and we tend to think that should be promoted more strongly in general terms," said Hiromichi Shirakawa, chief economist at Credit Suisse Securities Japan. "We believe that that helps Japan's growth. Not to a significant extent, but to some extent."
Shirakawa estimates foreign visitors account for five per cent of the Japanese consumer market.
The figure is likely to rise if the government can meet its target to boost visitor arrivals from 6.8 million last year to 10 million this year.
- CNA/yb
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