Visitors walk along Nakamise-dori street as they visit Sensoji temple at Asakusa district, a popular sightseeing spot in Tokyo, Japan, March 10, 2025. Photo by Reuters
Visitors to Japan, named the “world’s most favorite destination” last year by readers of Condé Nast Traveler, fell 4.9% in January from the previous year to mark the first decline in four years, government data showed.
Inbound visitors totaled 3,597,500, the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) said, falling for the first time since January 2022.
The drop was driven largely by a 61% fall in arrivals from mainland China to 385,300.
Beijing has been urging its citizens to avoid travel to Japan since November, after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s parliamentary comments that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could amount to a “survival-threatening situation” and trigger a potential military response from Tokyo.
The shift in the Lunar New Year holiday season, which fell in mid-February this year rather than late January in 2025, also weighed on arrivals.
South Korea remained the top source of visitors, jumping 22% to 1.176 million – a record for a single month and the first time any country or region surpassed the 1.1 million mark.
Arrivals from Taiwan rose 17% to 694,500, while visitors from the U.S. grew 14% to 207,800.
Japan’s inbound tourism had been climbing steadily since pandemic-era restrictions were lifted, with monthly volumes frequently exceeding pre-Covid levels.
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