Foreign Visitors to Japan Top 40 M. for 1st Time in 2025

Tokyo, Jan. 20 (Jiji Press)–The annual number of foreign visitors to Japan came to some 42.7 million in 2025, up from 36,870,148 in the previous year, exceeding 40 million for the first time, tourism minister Yasushi Kaneko said at a press conference on Tuesday. Spending by foreign visitors also hit a record high, of about 9.5 trillion yen. Backed by the yen’s weakness against other major currencies, the number of foreign visitors set a new record for two years in a row, after surpassing its prepandemic high in 2024. During 2025, the number of visitors from Hong Kong temporarily declined due to the spread of rumors on social media that a major earthquake could occur in Japan. However, the visitor number was supported by efforts to attract visitors from a wide range of countries and regions, such as the United States, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. In December alone, the number of visitors from China plunged about 45 pct from a year earlier to about 330,000, following the Chinese government’s request for its citizens to refrain from traveling to Japan amid bilateral tensions over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks about a potential Taiwan contingency. Tax-free sales at department stores in Japan have also dropped, raising concerns ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday in February. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]