"Chinese Tourists Won't Go Anymore"... Arrivals Halved, but Koreans Say "Now's Our Chance" and Open Their Wallets in Japan

Overall Visitor Numbers Fall, but Spending Hits a Record High
Chinese Visitors Plunge 55.5%... Decline for 10th Straight Month
Korean Visitors to Japan Up 25.6% in September... Taiwanese Visitors Up 13%

Although the number of Chinese tourists visiting Japan has declined for 10 consecutive months, spending by foreign tourists in Japan reached a record high this year, aided in part by the weak yen.

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Chinese Tourist Arrivals Plunge... Decline Continues for 10th Consecutive Month

According to the Japan National Tourism Organization on Oct. 21, the number of foreign tourists visiting Japan from January to September this year totaled 30,730,200, down 2.9% from the same period last year. This was the first year-over-year decline in foreign tourist arrivals to Japan in five years, since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the same period, the number of Chinese tourists fell 55.5%. Chinese tourist arrivals dropped sharply after relations between China and Japan soured following Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks last November suggesting the possibility of Japanese involvement in a Taiwan contingency.

Local media outlets forecast that if the decline in Chinese tourist arrivals continues, the total number of visitors to Japan this year could fall below last year's record 42.68 million.

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Foreign Tourist Spending in Japan Hits Record High... Korean Arrivals in September Up 25.6%

In contrast, spending by foreign tourists increased. From January to September, foreign tourists spent 7.0574 trillion yen in Japan (approximately 59 trillion 86.5 billion won), up 1.9% and a record high. The increase is believed to reflect the weaker yen, which reduced the cost of shopping and other spending for foreign tourists.

In September, the number of foreign visitors to Japan fell 5.0% year over year to 3,103,700, marking a decline for the second consecutive month. The number of Chinese visitors dropped 44.5% to 430,800.

South Korea accounted for the largest share of visitors, with arrivals rising 25.6% to 842,300. Taiwan followed, with arrivals up 13.0% to 595,600.

In September, arrivals to Japan from seven countries and regions, including South Korea and Taiwan, reached record highs.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.