Japan and Record Visitors: Updated Oct. 22, 2025.

Japan tops 31 mil. visitors in Jan.-Sept., surpasses 30 mil. at record pace

Article source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20251016/p2g/00m/0et/008000c

Ideas

As China is close to Japan, it's natural that the middle class in China would want to travel to Japan due to Japan's weak currency which makes spending money in Japan much easier.

Of course China, being one of the largest populations in the world has a huge middle class that want to travel and spend money these days.

When people travel,  most of the time, they don't think about politics or ideology they just want to travel and experience other countries.

Foreign tourism in Japan is almost becoming an economic driver, meaning it has a significant effect on the Japanese economy and can improve the economy.

But even at 36.87 million tourists it still has a long way to go to match both France and Spain in tourist numbers.

About ten years ago, for something like that, the Japanese government decided to open up the tourism market and grant more short-term visas to many counties and ever since then the flood gates have opened and now each year Japan is setting records for the number of foreign tourists who enter Japan.

The Japanese domestic economy, in itself, these days, is close to being stagnant, meaning there is not much consumer spending in the economy and Japan is relying more and more on foreign tourism as a economic driver to get the economy moving again.

The challenge is of course is that the Japanese population is around 125 million people while foreign tourists might reach around 39 million in 2025, which means there is a significant difference in the spending of foreign tourists versus Japanese domestic consumers.

And then there is the challenge of over-tourism as some places such as Kyoto in the Osaka area of Japan might actually be experiencing too many tourists for the size of the area.

And like any place, globally, there are going to be some who don't want tourists in their area, and its common that maybe ten percent or less of the tourists that enter Japan are not polite and might cause some problems for the local population.

It's not going to be easy to disperse foreign travelers to regional areas as most foreign tourists want to go to the most popular places in Japan and not some out of the way area that might take time to get there and or have spend more money to get there.

Yes, it's a good idea to promote out of the way regional areas but again how do you get enough foreign travelers to go to the regional areas to improve the economies of the regional areas.

Again its only natural that China, South Korea, and Taiwan make up the most foreign tourists going to Japan as other places or countries might be too far for a significant number of tourists to go as Europe and the US are just a little too far.

But that doesn't mean, with travel today being significantly improved, that someone from Europe or the US or Canada or even South America might want to visit Japan, but again there might not be a significant number of tourists compared to the three regions listed above.

The middle class, which in most countries now want to travel and experience other places has exploded in East Asian countries not to mention the Southeast Asian areas too with an explosion of the middle class in India, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, and even the Philippines seeing a significant increase in the middle class that want to travel with Japan, being in close proximity want to travel there too.

Japan, unfortunately, is prone to many natural disasters such as typhoons, earthquakes, and tsunamis. And the news can spread fast globally, and especially in the Asia-Pacific region which can affect the numbers of tourists wanting to travel to Japan.

But despite the potential for negative news foreign tourists seem willing and able to travel to Japan to experience Japan and Japanese culture and food.

Spending related in Japan related to German visitors, British visitors, and Spanish tourists might be attributed to the fact that they have might have higher incomes compared to the East Asian countries of China, South Korea, and Taiwan.

But then again the incomes of the middle class in the three East Asian countries have been increasing each year and might be close to the countries mentioned and or even passing them soon if not already.

Its going to take a significant effort to get to 60 million foreign visitors by 2030 and without significant challenges such as crowding, litter and noise problems.

And then, as with any country, there are going to be some who don't want foreign visitors and there seems to be a small but growing number or some in Japan who don't want any tourists at all.

Unfortunately, and it might be a very small number of visitors, who cause all of the problems that make all foreign visitors look bad, which means because of the few who do make problems the Japanese government might impose some restrictions on all foreign visitors.

Many years ago, or maybe not that long ago, there was the phrase "ugly American," which indicated some Americans didn't have good manners and or didn't follow the local customs needed to be polite in a country.

Unfortunately, that is what is happening in Japan now with foreign visitors who don't want to be polite or have good manners when visiting Japan, which again, makes all foreign visitors in Japan look bad.

All the things the local governments are trying to do to get foreign visitors to be more polite and follow local customs is good, but unfortunately, there are still going go to be some who don't follow the rules, but that is in every county too such as in France, Spain, South Korea too.

Governments can only do so much as it seems tourists, when they travel or go on vacation, they forget their manners as they think they don't have to follow any rules and or be polite compared to when they are in their own country.

Japanese culture is not the same as in other countries but good manners are and it's important for all, especially when traveling to a foreign country to have good manners as a foreign visitor to a foreign country a person is  representing their  country and when they display behavior that is not polite or not good manners it reflects on what the domestic population thinks about that country and the people in that country.

Before traveling to Japan it would be good for foreign visitors to learn something about the country and its culture and especially what might considered good manners and what might be considered not good manners. 

While some foreign visitors might actually try to look for some information about the country they are going to travel to, there are going to be some who going to do what they want without any regard for the culture of a country, the manners of a country, and some might even forget about being polite in the foreign country they are  in.

Have a nice day!

Foreign Visitors in Japan in 2024: Updated Feb. 13, 2025

Foreign visitors to Japan, their spending, hit record high in 2024

Article Source:  https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250115/p2g/00m/0na/041000c

Commentary:

Japan needs tourists to spend as much as they can as domestic spending in Japan is never good enough to really help the economy grow.

The challenge is Japanese consumers just aren't the big spenders like western consumers are, as they are more savers than spenders.

Foreign tourists, for the most part is taxed like all transaction in Japan, except for those who take advantage of the 10 percent tax break, but the red-tape related to getting that 10 percent break on can be cumbersome at times.

The weak Japanese yen is a boom for foreign tourists as their purchasing power increases as the yen gets weaker.

The Bank of Japan notices that the weak yen is both a positive and negative for the Japanese economy, but as 34 million foreign tourists took advantage of the weak yen, it highly unlikely that the BOJ is going to do anything significant to make the yen stronger.

The negative part of the weak yen is it increases the price of imports to Japan as Japan is a relatively resource poor country and has to import much of what it needs, which means as the yen gets weaker import prices get higher.

I lived in South Korea for many years and before the pandemic getting relatively low price tickets was very easy, but since the pandemic ticket prices to Japan has doubled and almost tripled with all flight being full.

South Korean for a long time had some issues with Japan as their is some not so good history between the two countries, which for a long time limited the number of South Koreans going to Japan.

But as ticket prices, globally, have gone up significantly, the flight from Seoul South Korea to Tokyo Japan is only about 2 hours which makes for a short trip to take and even weekend trips are very common.

Chinese tourists used to be the largest foreign tour group to Japan, but flight between the two countries have not gone back to normal yet, as flight are still somewhat limited due to the pandemic hangover.

Hotel prices in Japan has increased significantly as I used to a twin for less than $100 dollars a night but those days are long gone in Japan as even singles are becoming very expensive or not cheap anymore.

Of course as with anything related to supply and demand as demand increases prices will naturally increase and with 34 million foreign tourists entering Japan, Japanese hotels are taking advantage of the situation and increasing hotel prices and at the same time maybe making up for all of the loses the endured during the pandemic.

Hotel accommodations are always going to be one of the largest expenses in Japan as you can limit other costs such as shopping and food.

Yes, foreign tourism in Japan has become an economic driver much like Japanese car exports which significantly helps economic growth in Japan.

The Bank of Japan is not going to do anything that might dampen the enthusiasm of foreign tourists going to Japan as the BOJ now understands that foreign tourists are a strong economic driver for the Japanese economy.

However, mostly in Kyoto, a very popular tourist destination in Japan, there is concern for over-tourism as there is now talk of taxing tourists to reduce the congestion and trash in the Kyoto area.

If the tourism tax becomes too much for tourists they might react negatively to the tax and not go to certain tourist areas so cities in Japan need to be very careful and try to find the right balance between protecting the community and taxing foreign tourists.

At the same time foreign tourists need to respect the the laws including Japanese society/culture and not do things that might cause Japanese people and society to get upset with foreign tourists who don't have any respect for Japanese culture or society.

It seems Japan is now trying to compete with Spain and France as the most popular tourist destination globally.

But Japan has Osaka and Tokyo might not be able to accommodate 60 million tourists and yes, Japan need to get foreign visitors to travel to other areas in Japan beside the two main metro areas.

Japan is in the middle of a significant labor shortage at this time and finding enough workers for hotels, restaurants, along major tourist areas is going to be challenging not to mention getting enough workers for small regional airports in Japan.

High-end travelers are always a goal of any country, but not all travelers are high-end as most are just normal people with normal incomes globally.

Hotels, restaurants, and other service sector and hospitality companies will need to significantly increase the wages they pay in Japan to attract the workers they need as Japanese workers now have a choice of many jobs,due to a labor shortage, and they are not going to take a minimal wage job that sometimes comes with hospitality work or service sector work.

Have a nice day!

Foreign Visitors to Japan in 2023: So Far: Updated April 2, 2024.

 

Foreign visitors to Japan in 2023 jump over 6-fold to 25.07 mil.

Article Source:  https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240117/p2g/00m/0na/047000c

Ideas:

No doubt the Bank of Japan notices that foreign visitors are taking advantage of their increased purchasing power due to the weak Japanese yen.

The challenge for the Bank of Japan, as it considers increasing the key rate, which will strengthen the Japanese yen against the US dollar, is to keep it as low as possible, but at the same time, not too low that it affects the imports prices into Japan.

But of course there are competing forces in the Japanese economy, as Japanese exporters prefer a weak Japanese yen, but Japanese importers prefer a stronger Japanese yen, and key rate, as a to not have import prices too low.

And then there is the variable of foreign visitors, who spend a lot with the weak Japanese yen, but if the yen become stronger it might deter some foreign visitors from going to Japan.

Again, as long as the Japanese yen remains somewhat weak, foreign visitors will continue to go to Japan. But even if its not so weak, for their liking, there still will be a sizeable number of foreign visitors to Japan.

South Korean travelers seemed, for the most part, to always like Japan, but a few years, ago, maybe some or many of them were afraid and or deterred from going to Japan because of negative rhetoric from some or many in South Korea toward Japan. 

Taiwan seems to always have a positive relationship with Japan, as the WW 2 experiences have not deterred Taiwan travelers to Japan. 

China is a different situation, as there seems to somewhat of a love/hate relationship at this time between China and Japan, and for example the Japanese seafood ban in China at this time.

In January of this year, 2024, I was going to get my suitcase at Haneda airport, having flown in from Seoul Gimpo, there was United Flight and group from Newark in New Jersey, in the US, as I've not seen flight from New York or New Jersey at Haneda before.

And yes, despite the political or cultural challenges, most likely, flights from China have not reached the 2019 level, as it might take some time for airlines, all airlines, to re-establish pre-covid flight schedules.

At the same time, related to Haneda and Narita, both ANA and JAL are moving some or many of their international flights from Narita, the traditional international entry into Japan, to Haneda, which is closer to the central part of Tokyo.

Hotel accommodations in Japan used to be fairly inexpensive, but since the pandemic, like everything else in Japan, hotel prices have increased a lot.

The spending numbers are very significant and the Bank of Japan and the Japanese government needs to pay attention to how much foreign visitors spend in Japan, and how much they contribute to the growth of the Japanese economy.

With inflation continuing to be a challenge for many Japanese households the weak yen and foreign visitors spending is a key variable for economic growth for the Japanese economy.

The fact that the average amount spent per visitor was 212, 000 yen, is a good indication, that the weak Japanese yen, is working, for foreign visitors and also of course put a lot of money into the Japanese economy.

Of course, again, there are some competing factors related to the weak Japanese yen, as for the most part, importers don't like the weak yen as it increases import prices.

So the Bank of Japan needs to find the right balance to keep foreign visitors going to Japan, with continued weak Japanese yen, and keep importers happier with a stronger Japanese yen.

Unfortunately, even in South Korea, duty-free shopping schemes are a major problem as maybe some foreign visitors do the exact same thing, without naming any foreign group who might be doing it.

Japanese post offices and shipping companies need to be able to check every duty free item, with receipts from customers to see when they were bought in Japan.

In my last trip to Japan in January of 2024, at a major store, the staff checked carefully what I was going to buy, that was duty free, and they recorded the products into a computer system along with a paper receipt that was attached to the products.

At the same time, it might be necessary to ask/inquire what the customer who buys duty free items, and or if they buy a large amount find out about why they purchases such as large amount.

The Japanese government needs to find ways to prevent foreign visitor groups from taking advantage of the duty free tax free system.

The ideas presented above might help but it won't stop all who try to circumvent the system.

Its sad and unfortunate that people cheat the system, but I guess that's human nature as they  try to cut corners.

Again, when a foreign visitors buys a duty free product, they need to pay the tax too, and then as they leave the country, then they can show their receipts and products and get a refund, and that might stop some of those those who try to cut corners.

The challenge for Japanese travelers might be inflation, and not able to save as much as they need or want to travel and of course the strong US dollar or Euro against the Japanese yen.

Also both ANA and JAL are opening more international routes this summer which might help increase the number of Japanese travelers overseas, along with the Japanese discount airlines which are increasing their flights to different countries in Asia too.

Have a nice day and be safe!