According to data from the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), overall foreign arrivals in the first six months numbered 21 million, down 2% from the same period in 2025.
This marks the first decline during the period after five years of growth, excluding the pandemic period from 2020 to 2022.
In January, the Chinese government issued an advisory urging its citizens to limit travel to Japan following heightened bilateral tensions over comments made by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi regarding Taiwan in November 2025.
China also reduced flights between the two countries.
The sharp pull-back by Chinese has reshaped Japan’s tourism landscape, with South Korea and Taiwan overtaking mainland China as the top two source markets.
But almost all other key source markets remained in growth mode.
Chinese tourists in Kimonos visit Sensoji Temple in Tokyo’s Asakusa District. Nov.15, 2025. Photo by AFP |
South Korea led with 5.46 million visitors (up 18.6%), and Taiwan was second with nearly 4 million (up 21%).
Others like the U.S. and Hong Kong also maintained steady growth.
Looking at the broader picture, Japan’s major source markets can be categorized into three key geographic clusters that tell a story of resilience elsewhere.
In June, East Asia remained the largest market.
South Korea led with 787,000 visitors (up 7.8%). Taiwan followed with 670,000 (up 14.6%). Visitors from Hong Kong jumped nearly 29% to 214,000.
Southeast Asia accounted for 351,000 visitors, or 11.2% of the total number, but while numbers from Vietnam and Malaysia grew, those of Thailand and the Philippines declined.
Long-haul markets like North America and Europe saw big gains, boosted by summer school breaks and a weak yen.
U.S. visitor numbers rose by 2.7% to around 354,000.
The U.K., France, Italy, Spain, and the Nordic region all set new June records.
India stood out with a 26% increase, while the number of visitors from the Middle East surged nearly 30% from a year earlier.
JNTO said the focus is on getting repeat visitors, boosting tourist spending, and guiding traffic to regional areas instead of crowded big cities.
In 2025, foreign arrivals to Japan hit a record 43 million after rising by nearly 16% from the year before.
Tourism now contributes 34 trillion yen (US$210 billion) a year, or 5.6% to Japan’s GDP.
Japan hopes to turn this tourism boom into a long-term economic driver, and targets 60 million visitors a year by 2030.
Comments are closed.