November Foreign Visitor Arrivals to Japan Up 10.4% Year-on-Year; Fewer Chinese Tourists | WPN World People News

The Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) recently stated that China’s diplomatic restrictions on travel to Japan in November had little impact on overall visitor numbers. The total number of visitors to Japan in November increased by about 10.4% compared with the same period last year.

According to JNTO, amid continued tensions in China–Japan relations, the number of Chinese visitors to Japan in November reached 562,600. While this still represented growth, the increase was about 3 percentage points higher than last year’s rate of 37.5%, but lower than the growth recorded during the January–November period. In contrast, the total number of overseas business and leisure travelers entering Japan in November reached 3.52 million. Total inbound arrivals this year have surpassed 39 million, and by the end of November had already exceeded last year’s full-year record of 36.87 million.

Asakusa in Tokyo has long been a must-visit destination and is usually crowded with tourists. Recently, however, there have been reports of a noticeable decline in Chinese visitors. Shoji Imai, owner of a kimono rental shop in Asakusa, said, “My impression is that revenue has dropped by around 20 to 30 percent.” With fewer Chinese tourists, kimono rental businesses in Asakusa have been affected, and operators are concerned about future operations.

Data released by JNTO show that although the growth rate of Chinese visitor arrivals to Japan slowed in November, the overall number of foreign visitors to Japan still increased by 10.4% year-on-year. This suggests that Japan’s tourism sector has not been significantly affected by the ongoing diplomatic tensions between Japan and China. Since the beginning of the year, Chinese travelers have remained the largest group of visitors to Japan, accounting for about one-quarter of all foreign arrivals.