Japan: Foreign Tourists: Updated Feb. 22, 2024

 

Japan 2023 foreign arrivals top 20 million, 1st time in 4 yrs

Article Source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20231220/p2g/00m/0bu/052000c

Ideas:

In 2019 there were an estimated 31 million foreign visitors to Japan. Before the pandemic, airline tickets were fairly reasonable compared to now.  Just going from South Korea to Japan the ticket price is almost double on regular full-fare flights. Of course there are some  low-cost alternatives, but they go to Narita and not Tokyo Haneda. Narita is a good hour or more from the center of Tokyo and almost 2 hours from Yokohama, where I usually go.

Also the size of the planes has changed. For example, I used to fly on JAL or ANA and they were 2 aisle planes, meaning 2 seats, then an isle, 4 seats and then an aisle, and the 2 seats, and it was very convenient and comfortable. 

Now the planes are almost all one aisle planes, which are very crowded and everyone seems to bring their suitcases onto the plane.

There are many more flights now to Tokyo Haneda than there used to be, and it seems the immigration check in area is always crowded with foreign visitors.

When I went to Japan in Feb. of 2023, Japan has just recently opened, and you still had to show three boosters shots to get into Japan. You also had to register on a Japan government website with your travel plans and a document related to your booster shots, and then wait for approval which took about 30 minutes.

And then when you arrived at Haneda, there seemed to be foreign helpers every few meters, or so it seemed, asking you if you have the correct documents, and showing you where to go. But the process was not that hard, even though it seemed like chaos at the beginning.

And when I went back to Japan Jan. of 2024, the procedure was back to normal and you only had to show your passport and document as to where you were going to stay in Japan and how long.

They even tried to speed up the process, as you entered the immigration area, on the right side before you entered an immigration check in desk area, there were again foreign helpers motioning you to go over to them, and then you had your picture taken, your finger prints taken and your passports digitally photographed, and then you moved to the immigration check in area, and it took maybe 30 seconds to get through it as you had done all of the basic steps, except getting the 90 day stay stamp put in your passport.

Before the pandemic, South Korea, or some didn't show much favor to Japan, as there have been many issues that the South Korean society didn't like.

But since the pandemic has ended, something has changed and now more and more South Koreans are taking advantage of the weak Japanese yen and the short travel distance to Japan, despite the higher than usual ticket prices.

There are many South Korean low-cost airlines now, but they travel to Narita and now Tokyo Haneda, which again, is not convenient for me, or my South Korean partner, who lives and works in Yokohama Japan, so I always travel on JAL, ANA, KAL, or Asiana, on full ticket  economy class tickets.

Its interesting, that before the pandemic, maybe Chinese tourists were the largest group to come to Japan, but maybe there are situations that is preventing more Chinese than before.

It seems the high ticket prices from the US , Canada, and Mexico, and the long flights are not dissuading tourists from those countries from traveling to Japan, at this time.

While the numbers might still low, they are high for Mexico and Canada. What would be interesting is how many tourists are arrive from the EU countries.

Japanese nationals are at somewhat a disadvantage at this time as the weak yen, makes the yen strong in the US and other countries, which means Japanese nationals have less buying power. And of course the continued inflation in Japan might dissuade many from traveling overseas.

Have a nice day and be safe!