Even though Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations haven’t eased yet, the numbers of Chinese tourists to Japan have increased 79.8% from last year.
According to estimates released on the 22nd by the Japan National Tourism Organization, from January to September there was a total of 9.7373 million trips by foreign visitors to Japan. This is an increase of around 2 million trips compared with the same period last year. Additionally, Japan’s Ministry of Tourism estimates by the first half of October there was over 10 million trips by foreign visitors to Japan.
The main reasons for the increase in tourism to Japan is the devaluation of the Yen and the easing of visa restrictions for South East Asian countries.
The Japanese government set a goal of 20 million trips per year from tourists by 2020. It has revised its “Tourism Action Plan” in June to better receive the influx of visitors. The government is considering measures such as increasing landing slots at Tokyo’s Haneda and Narita Airports.
Mount Fuji’s entry into the list of UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Sites and Tokyo’s successful bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics has helped Japan attract the attention of the world. Additionally, many LCC are adding new flights to Japan and Haneda Airport has started more international flights. These factors have encouraged a boost in the number of tourists to Japan.
Number of visitors to Japan by September 2014
Origin of Visitors |
Number of Trips |
Growth Rate |
Taiwan |
2.1209 million |
27% |
Korea |
1.9958 million |
2.7% |
China |
1.7868 million |
79.8% |
There was a temporary drop in Chinese tourists to Japan in last year, due to territorial disputes between the two nations. However since September 2013 there have been 13 months of record high growth. (Translation by David)
