Japan saw record 22 mil. foreign visitors in 1st half of 2025
Visitor numbers for the first six months of the year topped the previous record of 17.78 million set a year earlier, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization.
The number of foreign visitors in June totaled 3.38 million, up 7.6 percent from a year earlier and the highest ever for the month.
By country and region, South Korea accounted for the highest number of visitors in the first half of the year at 4.8 million, followed by China at 4.7 million and Taiwan at 3.3 million. All markets exceeded their figures from the previous year, with China seeing a notable 53.5 percent increase.
The surge in visitors has created various challenges for Japan, including overtourism affecting the quality of life for locals in popular destinations.
Meanwhile, spending by foreign visitors in the April-June quarter totaled around 2.5 trillion yen ($16.8 billion), up 18.0 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to estimates from the Japan Tourism Agency.
Chinese visitors led spending, accounting for 20.4 percent of the total at 516 billion yen, followed by Americans at 357 billion yen and Taiwanese at 292 billion yen.
Visitors to Japan spent around 239,000 yen per person on average, with Britons spending the most at around 444,000 yen, followed by Italians at 398,000 yen and Germans at 396,000 yen.
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