Temperatures are cooling in Japan, but interest in visiting shows no signs of abating, as autumn arrivals proceed to outpace pre-pandemic levels.
The country welcomed 2.93 million foreign visitors in August, followed by one other 2.87 million visitors in September — well above the two.52 million and a pair of.27 million who arrived during those self same months in 2019, in line with the Japan National Tourism Organization.
Historically, Japan sees a lull of tourists in August and September, followed by a bump in visitors in October from travelers searching for fall foliage or Tokyo’s storied Halloween celebrations.
But this yr, that drop is predicted to be muted, because the country is experiencing a long-awaited rise in arrivals from Chinese travelers, a trend which began in June. Before the pandemic, China was Japan’s largest tourism source market, representing 30% of all arrivals, in line with Japanese authorities.
Chinese visitors to Japan doubled last month, from 325,645 in September 2023 to 652,300 in September 2024, in line with Japan’s tourism statistics.
From January to September this yr, greater than 5.2 million visitors from China visited Japan, a 228% increase from 2023, in line with preliminary statistics. But that leaves loads of space to grow to succeed in the 9.6 million that arrived in 2019.
Growth from the west
As Chinese arrivals ramp up, visitors to Japan from other countries have fully recovered and even exceed pre-pandemic levels.
Though two-thirds of holiday makers are from East Asia — namely, South Korea, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong —greater growth in the primary half of this yr got here from travelers from North America and other parts of Asia-Pacific, in line with a report by Mastercard Economics Institute released in September.
The variety of travelers from the USA rose 153% in the primary half of 2024 from the identical period in 2019.
Visitors from Canada (148%), Australia (141%), Singapore (140%) and Recent Zealand (138%) also surpassed pre-pandemic levels, in line with the report, as did arrivals from India and Southeast Asian nations, including the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Those from North America and Europe, who travel for longer distances, are inclined to stay longer, the report stated. Some 40% of those from Europe stay between two and three weeks, it said.
In contrast, 75% of South Korean visitors — currently Japan’s top tourism source market — stay lower than every week.
In consequence, travelers from North America and Europe spend more on accommodations and food, while Asian tourists spend more on shopping, the report stated.
Nonetheless, favorable exchange rates attributable to the weak yen have led to many spending more on retail purchases, a trend most noticeable amongst Singaporean, American and European visitors, in line with Mastercard’s report.
Concentration of tourists
Crowds of tourists on the road near Kyoto’s Kiyomizu-dera temple in April 2019.
Nicolas Datiche | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Based on Mastercard’s report, overcrowding is most pronounced in 4 places: Kyoto, Tokyo, Osaka and Okinawa. Â
“In April 2024, Kyoto had the very best proportion of foreign guests, with 68% in comparison with Tokyo’s 36%,” the report states. “Outside these primary cities, the foreign guest ratio typically falls below 10%. This marks a major increase from 2019, when Kyoto and Tokyo had average foreign guest ratios of 38% and 17%, respectively.”
Notably, Japan features prominently on many trend lists for 2025, from Expedia’s “Unpack ’25: The Trends in Travel” to Lonely Planet’s 2025 “Best in Travel.“
Tokyo and Osaka are amongst 10 global cities named to Airbnb’s top trending winter destinations list, in line with a report released by the corporate on Oct. 16.
Hilton’s 2025 “Trends Report” also shows considerable interest in Japan, stating that out of the highest eight luxury hotels where Hilton Honors members redeemed essentially the most points in the primary half of 2024, three are in Japan — Conrad Tokyo, Conrad Osaka and Roku Kyoto.
