Road to Tokyo 2020: Japan’s capital rapidly evolving into “global-standard” city

April 10, 2019

Tokyo--Foreign-language signs are increasingly common along streets, cashless payment is available at more and more shops and restaurants, and ashtrays are vanishing from public spaces.

Tokyo is rapidly transforming into a "global-standard" city with these moves, before it hosts the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics.

The use of digital signage is spreading at train stations and commercial facilities in the Japanese capital. A Mitsukoshi department store in the Ginza district has adopted two digital signage units that can display information for visitors in four languages.

East Japan Railway Co. <9020>, or JR East, has experimented with a digital signage system combined with artificial intelligence, with the view to its full-fledged introduction in time for the 2020 Games. On the trial system installed at Tokyo Station, an AI-based young female character called "AI-Sakura," fluent in Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean, answered questions from visitors, with a smile.

The introduction of smartphone-based payment systems, including those originated overseas, is also progressing. Department store operators and convenience store chains have been leading the move, and public transportation service providers and businesses at major tourist spots are now catching up with them.

On Feb. 21, major stations of Tokyo Metro Co. started to accept the Alipay mobile payment platform developed by China's Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., for purchasing one- to three-day passes for visitors from abroad.

In line with the International Olympic Committee's support for a smoke-free Olympics and Paralympics, meanwhile, the Japanese government is working to curb indoor smoking under the health-promoting law. The Tokyo metropolitan government is making similar efforts under its own ordinance.

Major family restaurant chain Saizeriya Co. <7581> plans to introduce a smoking ban at all of its outlets by September this year.

Among major convenience store chains, Seven-Eleven Japan Co. asked some 1,000 franchise stores in Tokyo last year to remove ashtrays from spaces in front of their entrances. At least about 70 pct of the stores have already met the request or indicated their willingness to do so.

Some eating-out business operators that have not geared up for smoking restrictions are concerned about possible negative impacts on their sales.

"It's uncertain whether a smoking ban would lead to higher sales on an increase in family visitors or simply cause a fall in the number of visitors who smoke," a senior official of a "izakaya" Japanese-style pub chain operator says.

In another move triggered by Tokyo's forthcoming hosting of the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, major convenience store chains are slated to stop selling porn magazines at most stores by this summer. Jiji Press