To use this site, please disable the ad blocking feature and reload the page.
This website uses cookies to collect information about your visit for purposes such as showing you personalized ads and content, and analyzing our website traffic. By clicking “Accept all,” you will allow the use of these cookies.
Users accessing this site from EEA countries and UK are unable to view this site without your consent. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.
Kyoto City Offers Digital Gift Certificates to Foreign Tourists Who Make Donations in New Scheme; First Initiative in Japan to Allow Donations from Non-Residents
The Yomiuri Shimbun Kyoto Mayor Koji Matsui, center, poses with Giftee executive officer Goro Mori, second from left, and others at a press conference in Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto, to announce the new initiative.
By Minako Aima / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
13:49 JST, October 21, 2024
KYOTO — Kyoto City has launched the nation’s first initiative to solicit donations from foreign tourists, aiming to preserve the city’s traditional beauty, culture and crafts. In exchange, donors will receive electronic gift certificates.
Called “Donate & Go,” the initiative encourages foreign tourists to play a role in conversing these assets for future generations, while using the gift certificates to enjoy Kyoto further and deepen their understanding of the ancient capital.
The initiative is modeled after the Tabisaki Nozei program set up by Giftee Inc., a Tokyo-based e-gift operator, which invites people to donate to business trip or tourism destinations in exchange for electronic gift certificates to use in local restaurants and hotels. The program is in effect across 76 Japanese municipalities using the Furusato Nozei “hometown tax” donation system. For taxation purposes, however, this program is only available to Japan residents.
With Donate & Go, also created in part by Giftee, those who donate between ¥1,000 and ¥1 million can immediately receive an electronic gift certificate worth half of the donation amount through a dedicated website. The certificates can be used by scanning the 2D code at participating establishments via smartphone and entering the desired amount.
Donations can be made toward one of five different causes, including scenic and cultural protection, such as the preserving classic machiya townhouses and supporting young craftspeople.
Courtesy of Giftee An image demonstrating the donation process on a smartphone
Since fiscal 2021, the city has solicited donations online, targeting foreign tourists. However, by the end of fiscal 2023, despite international tourist numbers rebounding after the COVID-19 pandemic decline, donations only totaled ¥170,000.
Goro Mori, Giftee’s executive officer, says the new initiative was devised to increase motivation to donate, rather than benefit donors financially.
About 380 establishments where tourists can enjoy local food and traditional culture are participating in the initiative, such as restaurants serving Kyoto cuisine and the Kyoto Museum of Crafts and Design. In the future, there are plans to include non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and other goods showcasing regional characteristics among rewards.
“It’s important to convey to the world not only Kyoto’s tourist attractions, but also its wide range of charms, such as its lifestyle, culture, and environment, and retain them for the next generation,” said Kyoto Mayor Koji Matsui at a press conference at Kyoto City Hall in September. “I hope visitors will come back and keep loving this place.”
Kyoto City, Giftee, Japan Airlines Co., and others have come together to roll out the initiative all over Japan, beginning with Hokkaido’s Niseko area in December. Electronic gift certificates will be available for all regions where the initiative has been introduced.
