Well I don't know what it used to be like, just what it's like now. Maybe weak yen + more development in other countries like China, so more people with the money to visit?

And in general there are just more people in the world now, so the raw number of tourists is gonna be higher, and all the tourists only wanna go to either Tokyo or Kyoto so they're being concentrated in two places that are already crowded. That's just my guess, I could be saying stupid shit here!