STATE AND PROSPECTS OF INTERNATIONAL TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN JAPAN

There are three main groups of tourist and recreational resources of Japan: natural and recreational, cultural, historical and socio-economic, which became the basis for the development of health, skiing, resort and beach, cultural and cognitive, medical and business tourism. The peculiar­ities of the tourist infrastructure are analyzed: accommodation establishments, food establishments, transport network and leisure establishments. The market of accommodation facilities is represented by hotels of various classes – from expensive five-star luxury hotels to business hotels, boarding houses and hostels, where you can rent a room at a more affordable price. The traditional Japanese atmosphere is presented in Ryokan hotels. As for restaurants, in the Land of the Rising Sun you can taste delicious high-quality traditional dishes from the freshest products at almost every turn, even in small towns, not to mention large cities. There are traditional, Japanese-style, high-end restaurants with European interiors and mixed-type establishments. Ryotey is kind of authentic Japenese restaurants which deserve special attention. There are well-developed leisure facil­ities in Japan. New complexes of entertainment establishments are constantly being built. The most popular are water parks, karaoke bars, slot machines, anime studios. Tea ceremony, fireworks festival, snow festival, sakura blossom festival, ikebana art and garden creation, Japanese theater and much more – the tourist specifics of Japan. The country’s transport system is characterized by a very high and efficient level of development. The structure and dynamics of tourist flows are analyzed, it is determined that the number of tourists visits to the country has been constantly growing since 2013 and in 2019 amounted to 31.9 million people. Half of the tourist flow is made up of tourists from neighboring Asian countries – China, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong. It is determined that Japan is not characterized by a “low” tourist season. The main problems and prospects of tourism development in Japan are considered. The government had high hopes for an increase in demand related to inbound tourism for one of the three largest world championships – the Rugby World Cup (2019), as well as the Olympic and Paralympic Games (2020). If the Rugby World Cup was held, albeit with some adjustments due to the influence of natural conditions, the Olympic and Paralympic Games due to the global pandemic COVID-19, had to be postponed to 2021. The pandemic in Japan caused the liquidation and sometimes bankruptcy of a number of enterprises. The most affected are the hotel business, catering, tourism and leisure. It is determined that Japan has considerable prospects in the rapid recovery and further devel­opment of the tourism industry.