Yen for L.A. Is Coming Back

The Japanese are back.

After the Sept. 11 attacks, the number of Japanese visitors to Los Angeles plummeted. Terrorism fears remain, but a strong yen and the lure of the Golden State have proved too much to resist.

“More and more people I know are deciding to come back,” said Tetsuya Sugano, a 35-year-old businessman who was enjoying the sights in Hollywood last week even though friends back home in Osaka had cautioned him against visiting California in the post-9/11 world. “I told them, ‘Every year it’s getting safer.’ ”

During the first three months of this year, almost 100,000 Japanese people arrived in Los Angeles, an increase of 23% from the same period last year, according to LA Inc., the city’s convention and visitors bureau.

That’s nowhere near the 153,064 who arrived in Los Angeles in the first quarter of 2000, when Japan accounted for the most overseas visitors to the city. Still, the first quarter marks what officials hope is the revival of a crucial component of the city’s tourism industry.

“We have turned a corner,” said David W. Sheatsley, vice president of research at LA Inc. “Visitors from Japan and most Asian countries are beginning to travel again.”

The California numbers mirror a national trend. Japanese visits to the U.S. increased 78% in April from the same month last year, the biggest such increase since the terrorist attacks, according to the most recent figures from the U.S. Commerce Department.

Overall international travel to the U.S. rose 28% during the same period.

“It’s great they are coming,” said Doug Baker, the department’s deputy assistant secretary. “Let’s just hope it continues.”

Japanese cut back on traveling to the U.S. for a number of reasons, including a continuing economic slump at home. But it was the fear of terrorism that had the biggest effect on a group considered one of the more risk-averse when it comes to travel.

A terrorist attack on U.S. soil, or another incident in Iraq involving the taking of Japanese hostages, could quickly put the breaks on Japanese travel this year. And there are limits to Japanese travelers’ interest in the U.S.

Tamiko Nakamoto, manager at Japan Travel Bureau, the largest Japanese travel booking company, said bookings by student groups were lagging the overall trend.

“We’re seeing more travel now,” she said, “but people aren’t sending their children on student trips.”

Chester Ikei, general manager of the New Otani hotel in the Little Tokyo section of Los Angeles, said that for the most part, “Japanese love to travel and they are getting used to news of terrorism.

“I think the new governor also helps.”

The extent to which Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger influences travel decisions isn’t known, but the action movie star is wildly popular in Japan, where he is fondly referred to as Shuwa-chan.

Local spots popular with Japanese tourists such as Disneyland Resort in Anaheim and Dodger Stadium -- the Los Angeles baseball team features two Japanese players -- are seeing upticks in visitors from Japan.

The return of Japanese travelers is of particular importance because they can be free spenders -- and the yen is up 20% versus the dollar since early 2002, effectively increasing the buying power of Japanese when they are in the U.S.

Japanese visitors to Los Angeles spent an estimated $590 million in 2000 and about $300 million last year.

“There is so much potential there,” said Carl Winston, director of San Diego State University’s hospitality and tourism management program. “In the 1980s, hotels bent over backward to attract their business because that travel group is so lucrative.”

Jennifer Jasper, deputy director of the California Travel and Tourism Commission in Sacramento, agreed.

“They really get out there and do things,” she said of the Japanese, “expensive things that we like,” such as visiting theme parks and upscale restaurants and hotels.

Azusa Miyazaki, a 19-year-old student from the Tokyo area, was doing her part last week as she strolled on Hollywood Boulevard on her first visit to America.

“I’m enjoying the shopping,” said Miyazaki, who made the trip despite her parents’ worries about terrorism.

“They tried to stop me, but I’m having a great time.”