Japan Won't Stop Its Farms Charging Tourists More. One Castle Doubled Its Ticket Money With Fewer Visitors: The Dual Pricing Lesson for Every Farm

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On March 1, 2026, Himeji Castle, a World Heritage site in western Japan, did something most farm owners would never dare. It raised its ticket price from ¥1,000 to ¥2,500 for every adult who doesn't live in Himeji. Locals still pay ¥1,000.

The critics said visitors would stay away. Some did. In March, paying visitors fell about 17%, to roughly 140,000. But ticket money roughly doubled, from about ¥130 million in March 2025 to about ¥270 million.

Then, on October 13, Japan's new tourism chief made clear the government would stay out of it. At an online briefing for foreign reporters, Japan Tourism Agency Commissioner Norio Kimura said the government would not comment on prices for foreign tourists, leaving dual pricing and higher fees for foreigners to each operator, according to Korean and Vietnamese media reports. In the same briefing, he repeated Japan's goal: 130 million foreign overnight stays in regional Japan by 2030, more than double the 60.6 million of 2025.

Farmhouses and rice fields in Shirakawa-go, a rural village in Gifu, Japan, the kind of countryside where Japan wants more foreign visitors to stay — Rural Japan is where the government wants foreign visitors to go next. Shirakawa-go, Gifu. Photo: Rap Dela Rea / Unsplash.

Read those two facts together. Japan wants foreign visitors in the countryside, where its farm stays are, and it will not tell rural operators what to charge them.

I host paying visitors on my own durian farm in Malaysia, so I read this news with a farmer's eyes. And here is the lesson I want you to take, wherever you farm: the guest who travelled furthest to reach you usually values your farm the most. You are allowed to price for that. But the farms that win won't do it with a "foreigner surcharge." They'll do it with something smarter.

Short answer: what Japan decided and what it means for your farm

On October 13, 2026, Japan's tourism agency chief declined to comment on prices for foreign tourists and left dual pricing, meaning charging tourists more than locals, to each operator, according to media reports. Japan also wants foreign overnight stays in its regions to grow from 60.6 million in 2025 to 130 million by 2030.

For farms anywhere, the lesson is simple. Out-of-town and overseas visitors often value a farm visit more and spend more. Capture that with a value ladder, overnight rewards and an open local discount, not a hidden surcharge. Check your local law first, because some places restrict price differences based on where people live.

What Japan Actually Said (and What It Didn't)

Japan has argued about dual pricing for two years. In 2024, Himeji's mayor floated charging foreigners several times what locals pay. That idea was shelved after critics called it discriminatory and hard to enforce at the gate, and the city switched to a split based on where you live, not your passport. That is the version that started in March.

In March 2026, the previous tourism commissioner said pricing, including dual pricing, is mainly up to operators, and that they should explain clearly why prices differ. A government study group is now drafting pricing guidelines for tourist facilities, expected by March 2027.

So the October 13 message is not a new law. It is a hands-off stance. The government is not setting your price, but it does want price differences explained clearly.

Others were moving before the briefing. Kyoto plans, if its city assembly agrees, to charge non-residents ¥2,000 at Nijo Castle from fiscal 2027, while residents would pay ¥1,000. Last season in Kutchan, the ski town at Niseko, registered locals paid ¥3,000 for a one-day lift ticket against ¥11,000 for everyone else. Japan's national museums have been asked to consider separate resident fees too.

Why Farm Owners Should Care: Japan Is Sending Tourists to the Countryside

Here is the number that matters most for anyone who farms in Japan.

Bar chart: foreign guest-nights in regional Japan were 60.6 million in 2025 and the government target is 130 million by 2030 — Japan's target: more than double foreign overnight stays outside the big cities by 2030.

In 2025, Japan recorded 179.9 million foreign guest-nights. Two in three were spent in the big-city regions around Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. Only 60.6 million were spent in the rest of the country. The government's new five-year tourism plan wants that number at 130 million by 2030, roughly level with the big cities.

Rural Japan is already moving. Regional foreign guest-nights grew 19.1% in 2025, nearly four times faster than in the big cities. In Biei, a Hokkaido farming town where sightseers kept walking into fields, parking at the famous Blue Pond doubled to ¥1,000 per car in July 2026 to pay for upkeep of the area, and the town says patrols to keep sightseers off farmland are urgently needed. Residents park free.

Japan's farm-stay program, called nohaku, shows the same wave. Japan's farm ministry counts 673 farm-stay areas. Foreign guest-nights there almost doubled in a single year, from 387,000 in fiscal 2023 to 748,000 in fiscal 2024. The ministry's target is 12 million total farm-stay guest-nights by fiscal 2029.

Bar chart of foreign guest-nights in Japan's nohaku farm-stay areas from fiscal 2019 to 2024, rising from 387,000 to 748,000 in the last year — Foreign guest-nights at Japan's farm stays almost doubled in fiscal 2024.

But the ministry also admits a problem. The average lodging price per guest-night in farm-stay areas was ¥13,196 in fiscal 2024, against ¥18,940 for tourism overall. Japan's farm stays are busier than ever and still cheaper than the rest of the market. I see the same thing on farms worldwide, and I wrote about it in why most farm stays are undercharging.

Traditional thatched farmhouse in Shirakawa, Gifu, Japan, similar to the rural farm stays that host foreign guests — Illustrative photo: a thatched farmhouse in Shirakawa, Gifu. Photo: Rogério Toledo / Unsplash.

The Castle That Earned More From Fewer Visitors

Let's go back to Himeji, because its first month teaches a lesson every farmer feels in their gut but rarely tests.

Two bar charts showing Himeji Castle's paying visitors fell about 17% in March 2026 while ticket revenue roughly doubled from about 130 million yen to about 270 million yen after dual pricing began — Himeji Castle's first month of dual pricing: fewer visitors, about twice the money.

Fewer people came. More money came in. Fewer visitors also means less wear on the castle, fewer queues and a better experience for each guest. On a farm, it means fewer feet on your crops and more time for each guest.

Now the warning. Not everyone was happy. The castle's management office told the Guardian that the complaints have come mainly from Japanese people from other cities, who pay the higher price too. And dual pricing still stings some travellers: a British traveller living in Bangkok told the same newspaper that it "feels quite segregating."

Reality Check: A price rise is not a business plan

Himeji is a World Heritage castle. People cross oceans to see it. A farm with no story, no reviews and no reason to visit will not survive a price jump like that. Build the value first, then raise the price. My guide to the experience premium shows how.

The Hidden-Price Trap

Two Japanese restaurants show why a hidden price is far riskier than an open one.

In January 2026, a ramen shop near Namba in Osaka went viral, with 26 million views in a day, after posting that it would turn away Chinese customers. People then noticed its ordering kiosk showed ¥950 for basic ramen in Japanese and ¥1,500 in English and other languages. Back in 2024, a seafood buffet in Tokyo's Shibuya also charged tourists about ¥1,000 more. Some still called it unfair, but the buffet said so openly and called it a discount for locals. The price was never a secret.

A small study points the same way. An analysis of English YouTube comments released this week by Japanese inbound firm MILOKU found 9 of 12 comments about dual pricing at temples, castles and museums were positive, while 7 of 13 about restaurants were negative. The pushback centred on hidden gaps. The sample was tiny, but the warning is worth heeding, because one angry post can undo years of good reviews.

Japanese locals feel the same. In a 2024 survey of 1,200 people by Ponta Research, 69.5% supported dual pricing, and the top condition for accepting it, chosen by 58.2%, was a clear basis for the price difference.

There is even a Nobel Prize winner's research behind this. In a famous 1986 study, Daniel Kahneman and his colleagues asked people to judge a car dealer during a shortage.

Bar chart from Kahneman's 1986 fairness study: 71% called a $200 surcharge unfair while 42% called removing a $200 discount unfair — Same money, different words: a surcharge feels far less fair than a removed discount.

The $200 increase is identical. The feeling is not. A surcharge feels like being punished for being a visitor. A discount feels like a thank-you to neighbours.

Field-Tested Play: Never hide a price

Put every price on one board, one booking page and one menu, in every language you serve. If locals get a better rate, write "Neighbour price" or "Resident price" next to it, with the reason: "because you support us all year." A price that hides is a scandal waiting for a smartphone.

The Real Lesson: Visitors From Far Away Value Your Farm More

Strip away the politics, and Japan's debate rests on something every farm host already knows. People who travel far are spending in a different mood.

Australia measured it. Tourism Research Australia's 2025 agritourism report found international agritourists spent an average of A$3,894 across their whole trip, against A$863 for domestic agritourists.

Bar chart showing international agritourists in Australia spent A$3,894 per trip in 2024 versus A$863 for domestic agritourists — International agritourists in Australia spend about 4.5 times more per trip.

Italy shows it too. In 2024, 54.8% of guests arriving at Italy's 26,360 agriturismi came from abroad, and foreign guests stayed 4.2 days on average, against 3.0 days for Italians. My Fattoria di Maiano case study shows what one Tuscan farm did with that demand.

I explained the reasons behind this in why international tourists love farm experiences. None of this means you should charge a German family more because they are German. It means you should build something worth what a far-travelled guest is ready to pay, and let anyone buy it.

Look at Satoyama Experience in Hida-Furukawa, a farming town in the mountains of central Japan. Founder Taku Yamada started its cycling tours in 2009 with three rental bikes. By 2020 the business hosted more than 5,000 guests a year, roughly seven in ten of them from overseas. Its 3.5-hour countryside cycling tour cost ¥7,600 in 2018. Its website now lists the group tour from ¥14,300 per person. There is no foreigner surcharge on its booking page. It built a premium experience and charges every guest the same, whatever their passport.

Price the Value, Not the Passport: 4 Ways Any Farm Can Profit

Here is how I would turn Japan's lesson into money on a farm in Texas, Tuscany, Queensland or Pahang.

Diagram of a farm value ladder with three price steps: everyday entry, a guided experience, and a premium hosted day that anyone can buy — A value ladder lets far-travelled guests spend more without a passport check.

1. Build a value ladder

Offer three steps: an everyday price, a guided experience and a premium hosted day. Hacienda Doka, a coffee farm in Costa Rica, does exactly this. Its basic tour is $14 for residents and $28 for non-residents. But the full tour with lunch and transport is $99 for every adult, resident or not. The premium step needs no residency check for adults at all.

Field-Tested Play: Add the things travellers can't do alone

Far-travelled guests will pay for what removes their stress: hotel pickup, a guide who explains in their language, a meal with your family, a small group. Package those into your top step. My guide on why simple agritourism packages outperform complicated ones shows how to keep it easy to buy.

2. Reward the overnight stay

Petra in Jordan charges foreign day-trippers 90 Jordanian dinars, but only 50 dinars if they stay at least one night in Jordan. Venice exempts overnight guests who pay its tourist tax from its day-tripper fee. The message: stay longer, pay less per day. A farm can copy this with a "stay the night, the tour is free" offer. See my step-by-step farm stay guide.

3. If you favour locals, frame it as a discount

Penang Hill in Malaysia charges MyKad holders and certain long-stay residents RM16 for a return funicular ticket in the normal lane, and RM40 for everyone else. Disney sells resident-only tickets in California and Florida. Hawaii hotels offer kama'aina rates to Hawaii residents. All of them present the lower price as a local rate, not the higher price as a surcharge. That is the Kahneman lesson in action.

4. Sell where travellers book

International guests rarely find a farm by driving past. They book through tour operators, hotels and tourism boards. When Tourism Malaysia promoted durian packages, prices ran from RM70 for durian eating to RM4,450 for a three-day durian holiday. Same fruit, different wrapper. Here is how Malaysia put 66 farms on its official tourism menu, and how to partner with hotels and tour companies.

Visitors walking through an apple orchard carrying bags of picked fruit on a farm tour — Illustrative photo, not a farm named in this article. Photo: Avesta / Unsplash.

The World Already Runs Two Prices

Japan is late to this, not early. Here is what visitors pay elsewhere today.

Place	Local or resident price	Visitor price	How it is framed
Himeji Castle, Japan	¥1,000 (Himeji residents)	¥2,500	Resident split
Kutchan lift ticket, Niseko, Japan (2025-26)	¥3,000 (registered locals)	¥11,000	Local discount
11 big US national parks	Standard entry fee	Standard fee + $100 (non-US residents)	Non-resident surcharge
Louvre, Paris	€22 (EU/EEA)	€32 (non-EEA)	Non-EEA price
Penang Hill funicular, Malaysia	RM16 (MyKad)	RM40	Local price
Hacienda Doka coffee farm, Costa Rica	$14 basic tour	$28 basic tour; $99 premium for every adult	Resident rate + value ladder
Petra, Jordan	JD1 (Jordanians)	JD50 overnight guests; JD90 day-trippers	Rewards overnight stays

Not every country goes this way. In late September 2026, the UK government ruled out charging overseas visitors at England's national museums, partly because it could also put off domestic visitors.

Is It Legal to Charge Tourists More? Questions to Ask First

This is where a pricing idea can turn into a lawsuit, so slow down. What follows is general information, not legal advice.

Flowchart with four questions to check before charging farm visitors a different price: nationality, residence, added value and clear display of prices — Four questions to ask before you charge visitors a different price. General information, not legal advice.

Nationality is the danger zone. In the UK, the Equality Act 2010 counts nationality as part of race. In the US, the Civil Rights Act bans discrimination by national origin in hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues, and some state laws, such as California's Unruh Act, also cover citizenship. Even Himeji shelved its foreigner-only plan after critics called it discriminatory.

Residence is safer in some places, risky in others. In the US, residency is not a protected category under that federal law, and a California court threw out a 1977 challenge to Hawaii hotels' kama'aina rates, partly because California law could not reach Hawaii hotels. But inside the EU, the Services Directive bars price differences based on nationality or place of residence unless objectively justified. In 2003, the EU's top court ruled that Italy broke EU law by letting local public museums and monuments give free or cheaper entry to over-60s or over-65s only if they were Italian or local residents. A "locals only" discount on a farm inside the EU can be unlawful.

Fees and taxes are different. Biei, a farming town in Hokkaido, planned a new tax that residents would not pay. The national government questioned that on fairness grounds, so the town now plans to tax residents too. A resident discount on a fee is easier to defend than one on a tax.

If you host overnight guests, also read my Nasu lodging tax breakdown, and US farms should check agritourism laws by state.

Reality Check: Four questions for your lawyer or advisor

1. In my country or state, can I set prices by where a customer lives? What proof can I ask for?

2. Does a "resident discount" count as indirect discrimination here?

3. If I sell through a booking platform, do its rules allow different prices for different guests?

4. Does my insurance policy cover every activity in my premium package, including transport and meals?

What I See on My Own Durian Farm

On my farm, Bloopy Durians in Bentong, Malaysia, we welcome up to 100 visitors a week during durian season. Over the years I've hosted guests from Australia, Russia, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and many other countries.

A pile of spiky durian fruits at a market, the fruit that draws international visitors to durian farms in Malaysia — Illustrative photo, not Bloopy Durians: durians at a market in Phu Quoc, Vietnam. Photo: Evgeny Matveev / Unsplash.

The pattern is clear. International guests are in a travel mindset. They have budgeted for memories, and a durian orchard is something they can't get at home. Local visitors love the farm too, but they compare it with everyday durian prices at the market.

For years I asked, "Why won't locals pay more?" The better question was, "How does each group define value?" That one question changed how I design what I sell. I wrote more about it in what hosting local and international visitors taught me.

Malaysia already lives with two-tier pricing. The ferry to Langkawi raised fares for non-MyKad passengers by RM10 in April 2026 and left Malaysian fares unchanged. But a farm that relies on a surcharge alone is fragile. The farms that last give the far-travelled guest a reason to spend.

Your 7-Day Two-Price Action Plan

Day 1: List every product you sell to visitors, with today's price.
Day 2: Ask your last 20 guests, or check your bookings, how far they travelled.
Day 3: Design a premium step with transport, a guide, a meal or a small group.
Day 4: Decide if you want a neighbour price. Check the law before you do.
Day 5: Put every price on one public page. See my guide to pricing agritourism activities.
Day 6: Add an upsell, using my list of upsells that double agritourism revenue.
Day 7: Send your premium package to two hotels or tour operators near you.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is dual pricing in tourism?

Dual pricing means charging two prices for the same thing, usually a lower price for locals or residents and a higher one for visitors or foreigners. It can be framed as a resident discount or as a visitor surcharge.

Did Japan ban or allow dual pricing for foreign tourists?

Neither. On October 13, 2026, Japan's tourism agency chief said the government would not comment on prices for foreign tourists, leaving dual pricing to each operator, according to media reports. The agency is drafting pricing guidelines for tourist facilities and wants price differences explained clearly.

How many foreign tourists does Japan want in rural areas?

Japan's 2026 to 2030 tourism plan targets 130 million foreign overnight stays outside its big-city regions by 2030, up from 60.6 million in 2025.

Is it legal for a farm to charge tourists more than locals?

It depends on where you are. Pricing by nationality is risky in many countries, including the UK and US. Pricing by residence is common in the US but restricted inside the EU. Ask a local lawyer before you start.

Is a resident discount better than a tourist surcharge?

Usually, yes. In a classic study, far fewer people judged a removed discount unfair than an added surcharge, even when the price rose by the same amount. Show both prices openly.

How can a small farm earn more from international visitors without dual pricing?

Build a value ladder with a premium hosted experience, reward overnight stays, and sell through hotels, tour operators and tourism boards that reach overseas guests.

The Bottom Line

Japan's government just made clear it won't set tourist prices for operators. For farm owners, that is a reminder of something rarely said out loud: your price is your decision. The smart response is not to slap a surcharge on strangers. It is to build an experience so good that the guest who flew 5,000 kilometres feels it was worth every yen, peso or ringgit.

So where does your farm stand today? That is why I built the Farm Readiness Quiz. In a few minutes it shows which parts of your farm are ready for paying visitors and which to fix first.

Take the Free Farm Readiness Quiz

Then download my free ebook, the 21-Point Agritourism Blueprint. It walks you through 21 points to check before you welcome your first paying visitor, from insurance and signage to pricing.

Download the Free 21-Point Agritourism Blueprint

P.S. Remember Himeji? Fewer visitors came in its first month, and the castle earned roughly twice as much. You don't need a castle to test that. Pick one product this week, add real value, raise the price, and watch what happens.

Written by Stephen Loke of AgritourismSuccess.com, whose farm is featured in Bloomberg News and Asahi Shimbun. This article is for education only and is not legal, tax, insurance or financial advice. Pricing laws differ by country and change, so confirm the rules with your own professionals. Figures were checked in October 2026. Photos from Unsplash.