"Oh, we have so much more (Japanese visitors) than before," said cafe manager Tiare Monsarrat. "All through the day. I think we catch them when they're walking up toward Diamond Head."

Visitors from Japan have changed over the years in terms of what they want to see and do while on vacation in Hawai'i, said industry experts. Instead of shopping, they want to surf. Instead of lounging at the beach, they want to snorkel at Hanauma Bay. And instead of traveling on tours, they're riding the city bus or renting cars and exploring neighborhoods off the tour bus route.

"They're going beyond Wai-kiki to nearby shopping areas," said Frank Haas, marketing director for the Hawai'i Tourism Agency. "You'll find them in stores like Sports Authority, at Ward Centre, at Waikele (Premium Outlets). They're not bound to the traditional stores anymore."

And that may give local retailers and small-business owners a chance to cater to a visitor market they hadn't looked at before.

Historically, Japanese visitors have traveled in large groups on wholesale package tours. While most still rely on these tour groups, a growing segment of these travelers are more independent, Haas said. And they're more adventurous.

Junko Murata from Aomori, Japan didn't want to go on another package tour of Hawai'i. She has already done that.

On her 12th trip to Hawai'i, she rented a car and, along with her husband Keiichi, plan to take their 4-year-old daughter to Sea Life Park and the North Shore. In the meantime, they're relaxing at the beach in Waikiki.

"The schedule (of a tour) is too busy for my daughter," said Murata, 34, a pharmacist who has been to Thailand, Bali and Europe but considers Hawai'i her favorite. "I don't like to wait (for tour buses). I want to relax."

For more than 15 years, Outfitters Kaua'i has catered primarily to tourists from the Mainland. A very small percentage of their customers were from Japan.

This summer the company, which offers biking, hiking and kayaking tours of the island, has hosted more Japanese visitors than before, said president Rick Haviland.

"We're finding the Japanese FIT (free and independent travelers) are interested in our adventure tours," he said. "We find that they want to learn about Hawai'i and how people live in Hawai'i. And they want to have fun."

This summer more than half of visitors who took surfing lessons at C&K Beachboy Services on Kuhio Beach were Japanese visitors, a significant increase from previous years.

That area has also grown for Surf N Sea in Hale'iwa, which has taken more Japanese visitors on snorkeling tours and surfing lessons this year.

"They're getting a lot more active," said owner Joe Green, who has been marketing the historic surf shop in Japan for about 20 years. "They're actually starting to go out on these little ventures on their own rather than taking the big tour buses and staying with the whole group."

Nearly 40 percent of his customers are from Japan. They buy surfboards and T-shirts and sign up for surfing and snorkeling lessons.

Green believes the more independent these high-spending travelers are, the better for small businesses that may not have been on their radars before.

"This is better for us because they're choosing places they want to go to rather than going to places where the tour bus stops," he said. "We're a little bit off the beaten path."

Gary Anderson was shocked to see two buses of Japanese tourists stop off at this summer's Hale'iwa Arts Festival.

"I don't know if that was by incident or accident," said the executive director of the festival, which receives about 15,000 people. "(The number of Japanese attendees) has definitely picked up over the last couple of years."

The growing number of independent travelers from Japan can be linked to the number of repeat visitors to the Islands, Haas said.

In 2003, 53.5 percent of visitors from Japan had been to Hawai'i before. And so far this year, 56.4 percent of Japanese visitors are repeat customers who tend to be more confident about traveling on their own and more familiar with the Islands.

But with that comes the challenge of offering them something different, Haas added.

"The old saying is, 'Been there, done that, bought the shirt,' "

Haas said. "What we see is a very high level of satisfaction (by these visitors). They like what we have to offer, but in order to motivate them to travel back here, we have to give them something new."

Island Snow in the Kailua Beach Center has partnered with tourist-related publications and programs in Japan to lure visitors to its shop by offering discounts.

And being located next to Kailua Sailboards & Kayaks, which markets its rentals and tours to the Japanese market, has helped, too. Japanese make up about 15 percent of its total customers.

"We've always had a pretty steady stream of Japanese visitors here," said store manager Free Arndt, pointing to a group of Japanese tourists sitting outside and eating shave ice they bought at the store. "It was definitely heavier this summer."