On April 22nd, on China's social media platform Xiaohongshu (RED), a post stating, 'Japan-China air ticket prices have soared, and ordinary people are forced to pay the price for the political dogfight,' was made, drawing a significant response.

The poster expressed dissatisfaction, saying, 'People traveling between Japan and China must be fed up with these soaring air ticket prices recently. Routes that used to be easily accessible for a few hundred yuan (1 yuan = approx. 24 yen) now easily cost 4,000 to 5,000 yuan (approx. 95,000 to 120,000 yen), and can even exceed 10,000 yuan (approx. 240,000 yen).'

The poster then pointed out, 'While ostensibly a reduction in flights, it is essentially a restructuring of profit mechanisms carried out under administrative intervention, and the burden is being borne by ordinary citizens,' listing the following three specific problems.

The first point is 'significant reduction in transport capacity,' stating, 'When Japan-China relations become strained, the aviation industry is the first to be hit. The total number of flights has been reduced by over 50%, and direct flights between many regional cities have been completely suspended. Routes to Kansai (Osaka) have been particularly severely affected. For Tokyo routes, only flights connecting major airports like Beijing and Shanghai remain, and the extremely insufficient supply has sharply driven up air ticket prices.'

The second point is 'common people bear the burden as a result of the dogfight,' stating, 'Do you think airlines are incurring losses? That's too simplistic a view, and in reality, the current situation is helping airlines achieve reforms they have desired for a long time,' the poster pointed out. The poster also suggested that airlines are increasing profitability by cutting inexpensive regional routes and leaving only major routes, and that hub airports and airlines also benefit from connecting flights, etc.

The third point is 'it's always ordinary people who suffer the most,' stating, 'Students studying abroad and relatives visiting family are forced to buy expensive air tickets, and have no choice but to incur losses. Individual travelers and business users have most of their budget consumed by airfare, and the cost of travel significantly increases. The political headwind (in Japan-China relations) ultimately bounces back as a financial burden on ordinary people.'

The poster then questioned again, 'Ordinary people's wallets are empty, while airlines reap huge profits. In this political dogfight, who truly benefits, and who is suffering?'

Over 1,000 comments were posted on this entry, with voices such as: 'That's exactly right,' 'Thumbs up to you for telling the truth,' 'Flights from Chongqing to Japan used to be cheap, but they've gotten much more expensive (tears),' 'Direct flights are too expensive; I have no choice but to transit in Korea,' 'It's a real problem,' and 'Aren't many flight attendants unemployed now?'

On the other hand, opinions also emerged that prices haven't changed much depending on the location, with comments such as: 'It doesn't feel that expensive,' 'Around 2,000 yuan (approx. 48,000 yen) for a round trip. Not much different from last year,' and (referencing an uploaded screenshot showing air tickets from Shanghai to Tokyo sold for around 1,000-2,000 yuan on a ticket platform) 'Flights from Shanghai to Japan are always cheap.'

In addition, comments were also received such as: 'Japan has never said they're reducing flights. It's all on our (China's) side,' 'Japanese airlines must be laughing all the way to the bank. Chinese airlines, which used to compete for passengers, have all cut flights, so everyone has no choice but to choose Japanese airlines,' 'You should just use Japanese airlines. They don't suddenly cancel flights,' and 'Air tickets are expensive, but hotels are cheap because of the weak yen.'

On the other hand, many voices were heard, such as: 'It's not ordinary people, but pro-Japan Chinese people who are paying the price,' 'If the government says not to go, then don't go,' 'If it's for travel, just don't go. Are there no other places to go?' 'They should raise prices even more. Why do we have to go to Japan?' and 'First of all, whose fault do you think this is (Japan's or China's)?' 'Your way of speaking makes it sound like we (China) started the fight,' 'It's not a dogfight; Japan is unilaterally provoking us,' 'You should write such things on Japanese SNS,' and 'This is a struggle between nations. I resolutely support it.'

In addition, comments such as: 'If you're rich enough to go to Japan, you wouldn't care about that much,' 'Everyone who says they won't go is someone who can't go,' 'High prices mean there's still demand,' 'The yen continues to weaken, and prices are still rising. Either way, ordinary Japanese people must be struggling,' and 'It's normal. Japan-China relations have their ups and downs. I've been to Japan more than 20 times in the past decade or so, but it's not worth it now, so I'm not going. That's all.' were also posted. (Translated and edited by Kitada)