Japan reported approximately 21.1 million foreign visitors between January and June 2026, marking a 2.0% decrease compared to the same period last year, the first drop in five years [1, 2, 3, 4]. The sharp decline was mainly driven by a 56.4% fall in visitors from mainland China to about 2.06 million [1, 2, 3, 4]. This steep decline follows Beijing’s advisory against travel to Japan, issued after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made controversial remarks about Taiwan in November 2025 [2, 3, 4].
June alone saw a 6.8% drop in inbound visitors to 3.15 million, the third consecutive month of decline. Chinese visitors fell 57.3% year-on-year in June, marking their seventh straight month of decreases [1, 2, 3, 4]. Meanwhile, visitors from South Korea grew 18.6% to 5.7 million in the first half of the year, reaching record highs for June. Taiwanese visitor numbers rose by 20.9% to nearly 4 million, and visitors from the United States increased 7.1% to about 1.82 million [1, 2, 3, 4].
Despite fewer visitors, total tourist spending in Japan from April to June 2026 rose slightly by 0.2% year-on-year to a quarterly record of roughly ¥2.5 trillion. Spending per visitor also hit a new high of ¥244,457 during this period [1, 2, 3, 4]. However, Chinese tourists’ spending plunged by 48.8% compared to last year, while tourists from other countries contributed to the spending growth [2, 3, 4].
Mori Trust estimates total foreign arrivals in 2026 will fall short of last year’s record 42.68 million, projecting between 40.5 million and 42 million visitors. Mori Trust President Miwako Date said reservations remain strong, supported by a weak yen despite increased fuel surcharges on international flights due to turmoil in the Middle East. Date noted, “(Reservations) are unlikely to decrease drastically, and on the contrary, the weak yen has a strong (positive) impact (on reservations)” [1].
Japan aims to increase inbound tourism to 60 million visitors annually by 2030 [2, 3, 4].
