Himeji Palace Entrance Fees Are Proposed To Double For Non-residents Next Year

JAKARTA - The Himeji Authority, the western Japanese city hosting the Himeji Palace, last month proposed to the local assembly that the entrance fee for the World Heritage site for non-residents be raised two or three times by 2026, canceling the mayor's previous plans to set a much higher price for foreign tourists.

The Himeji Regional Government, Hyogo Prefecture, will submit a bill in March to raise the price of adult tickets from the current 1,000 yen (Rp103,364) to around 2,000 yen (Rp206,728) to 3,000 yen (Rp310,092), while admission tickets for those under 18 years old, currently 300 yen (Rp31,009), are free starting around spring 2026, quoted from Kyodo News January 5.

In addition, local governments also plan to introduce digital tickets with a time and date set as trials from April to October, when the World Expo will be held in a neighboring prefecture, Osaka.

Earlier, Mayor Himeji Hideyasu Kiyomoto said in June he was considering doubling the cost of entering the castle for foreign visitors to help cover maintenance costs.

Several city council members have expressed concern over the idea, including the possibility it could give foreign tourists a negative impression.

It is known that about 1.48 million people visited the castle in fiscal year 2023. About 452,300 of them are overseas visitors, surpassing 400,000 for the first time since data was available in the 1992 fiscal year, according to the city government.