Tourism in Japan

Mount Fuji, as seen from Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi
Crowds of tourists at a bamboo forest in Kyoto

Tourism in Japan is a major industry and contributor to the Japanese economy.

As of 2019, Japan attracted 31.88 million international tourists. Japan has 21 World Heritage Sites, including Himeji Castle, Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto and Nara. Popular foreigner attractions include Tokyo and Osaka, Mount Fuji, ski resorts such as Niseko in Hokkaido, Okinawa, riding the Shinkansen and taking advantage of Japan's hotel and hotspring network.

The 2017 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report ranked Japan 4th out of 141 countries overall, which was the highest in Asia. Japan gained relatively high scores in almost all of the featured aspects, such as health and hygiene, safety and security, cultural resources and business travel.

History

Himeji Castle in Himeji (WHS)

The origins of early traditions of visits to picturesque sites are unclear, but an early sight-seeing excursion was Matsuo Bashō's 1689 trip to the then "far north" of Japan, which occurred not long after Hayashi Razan categorized the Three Views of Japan in 1643. During the Edo era of Japan, from around 1600 to the Meiji Restoration in 1867, travel was regulated within the country through the use of shukuba or post stations, towns where travelers had to present appropriate documentation. Despite these restrictions, porter stations and horse stables, as well as places for lodging and food were available on well-traveled routes. During this time, Japan was a closed country to foreigners, so no foreign tourism existed in Japan.

Following the Meiji Restoration and the building of a national railroad network, tourism became more of an affordable prospect for domestic citizens and visitors from foreign countries could enter Japan legally. As early as 1887, government officials recognized the need for an organized system of attracting foreign tourists; the Kihinkai (貴賓会), which aimed to coordinate the players in tourism, was established that year with Prime Minister Itō Hirobumi's blessing. Its early leaders included Shibusawa Eiichi and Ekida Takashi. Another major milestone in the development of the tourism industry in Japan was the 1907 passage of the Hotel Development Law, as a result of which the Railways Ministry began to construct publicly owned hotels throughout Japan.

For much of post-World War II history, Japan has been an exceptionally unattractive tourist destination for its population and GDP size; from 1995 to 2014, it was by far the least visited country in the G7 despite being the second largest country in the group, and as of 2013 was one of the least visited countries in the OECD on a per capita basis.

Statistics

Foreign tourists to Japan

These are the top 35 nationalities that visited Japan from 2017 to 2022.

Country/Territory Total
11/2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
 South Korea 6,175,800 1,012,751 18,947 694,476 5,584,597 7,538,952 7,140,200
 Taiwan 3,802,900 331,097 5,016 487,939 4,890,602 4,757,258 4,564,100
 ChinaMainland 2,112,600 189,125 42,239 1,069,256 9,594,394 8,380,034 7,355,800
 Hong Kong 1,863,300 269,285 1,252 346,020 2,290,792 2,207,804 2,231,500
 United States 1,862,800 323,513 20,026 219,307 1,723,861 1,526,407 1,375,000
 Thailand 869,800 198,037 2,758 219,830 1,318,977 1,132,160 987,100
 Vietnam 536,800 284,113 26,586 152,559 495,051 389,004 308,900
 Philippines 543,100 126,842 5,625 109,110 613,114 503,976 424,200
 Australia 523,600 88,648 3,265 143,508 621,771 552,440 496,100
 Singapore 477,600 131,969 857 55,273 492,252 437,280 404,100
 Canada 389,400 55,877 3,536 53,365 375,262 330,600 305,591
 Indonesia 365,700 119,723 5,209 77,724 412,779 396,852 352,200
 Malaysia 355,000 74,095 1,831 76,573 501,592 468,360 439,500
 United Kingdom 297,600 57,496 7,294 51,024 424,279 333,979 310,499
 France 259,800 52,782 7,024 43,102 336,333 304,896 268,605
 Germany 221,600 45,748 5,197 29,785 236,544 215,336 195,606
 India 152,800 54,314 8,831 26,931 175,896 154,029 134,371
 Italy 141,800 23,683 3,527 13,691 162,769 150,060 125,864
 Spain 109,500 15,926 3,053 11,741 130,243 118,901 99,814
 Mexico 85,700 9,152 1,124 9,528 71,745 68,448 63,440
   Nepal 57,198 75,200 11,648 17,191 51,577 44,297 39,950
 Netherlands 55,201 12,064 1,860 8,481 79,479 72,069 63,041
 New Zealand 52,244 12,107 1,404 16,070 94,115 73,208 64,873
 Israel 40,011 7,673 619 2,315 44,214 39,193 32,758
  Switzerland 39,348 8,917 1,387 6,036 53,908 52,099 47,154
 Russia 38,700 10,324 3,723 22,260 120,043 94,810 77,251
 Myanmar 32,121 22,763 1,531 10,884 30,977 24,418 22,915
 Brazil 32,008 9,436 2,731 6,888 47,575 44,201 42,207
 Mongolia 28,361 19,267 1,685 7,118 31,513 27,647 23,365
 Sweden 27,805 7,900 1,112 7,622 53,836 53,822 50,805
 Sri Lanka 27,427 21,536 3,127 8,918 28,380 27,789 27,904
 Turkey 22,110 7,129 1,161 2,886 22,724 19,762 19,123
 Cambodia 19,163 13,618 784 7,420 28,492 21,696 17,857
 Pakistan 15,875 11,423 4,284 6,145 17,208 15,802 13,729
 Bangladesh 14,435 11,981 1,789 4,444 15,174 13,971 12,878
Total (all countries) 22,332,000 3,832,110 245,862 4,115,828 31,882,049 31,191,856 28,690,900

Current status

Domestic tourism remains a vital part of the Japanese economy and Japanese culture. Children in many middle schools see the highlight of their years as a visit to Tokyo Disneyland or perhaps Tokyo Tower, and many high school students often visit Okinawa or Hokkaido. The extensive rail network together with domestic flights sometimes in planes with modifications to favor the relatively short distances involved in intra-Japan travel allows efficient and speedy transport. International tourism plays a smaller role in the Japanese economy compared to other developed countries; in 2013, international tourist receipts was 0.3% of Japan's GDP, while the corresponding figure was 1.3% for the United States and 2.3% for France.

In inbound tourism, Japan was ranked 28th in the world in 2007 when the country had the 2nd largest GDP. In 2009, the Yomiuri Shimbun published a modern list of famous sights under the name Heisei Hyakkei (the Hundred Views of the Heisei period).

Tourists from South Korea have made up the largest number of inbound tourists several times in the past. In 2010, their 2.4 million arrivals made up 27% of the tourists visiting Japan.

Travelers from China have been the highest spenders in Japan by country, spending an estimated 196.4 billion yen (US$2.4 billion) in 2011, or almost a quarter of total expenditure by foreign visitors, according to data from the Japan Tourism Agency.

According to the Japan National Tourism Organization in 2017, 3 out of 4 foreign tourists came from other parts of East Asia, namely South Korea, Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Japanese video games, manga and anime play a role in driving tourism to Japan. In surveys held by Statista between 2019 and 2020, 24.2% of tourists from the United States, 7.7% of tourists from China and 6.1% of tourists from South Korea said they were motivated to visit Japan because of Japanese popular culture.

The Japanese government hoped to receive 40 million foreign tourists every year by 2020, however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the country received only 4.12 million foreign tourists in 2020.

In September 2022, the Japanese government announced that visa requirements from some countries will be waived from October 2022, in a move to reopen travel after the COVID-19 pandemic border restrictions. Prior to the pandemic, Japan did not require tourist visas for 68 countries and regions.

Effect of the Fukushima nuclear disaster (2011)

Following the triple meltdown of the nuclear reactors in Fukushima, caused by the earthquake and tsunami, the number of foreign visitors in Japan were declined for months. However, in September 2011, some 539,000 foreign people visited Japan, this was 25 percent down compared with the same month in 2010. This decline was largely attributed to the Fukushima nuclear accident and the stronger yen made a visit to Japan more expensive.

To boost tourism the Japanese Tourism Agency announced in October 2011 a plan to give 10,000 round-trip air tickets to Japan to encourage visitors to come. In 2012, free tickets would be offered if the winners would write online about their experiences in Japan. They also would need to answer some questions about how they felt while visiting Japan after the triple disaster and how the interest in tourism in Japan could be renewed. About US$15 million would be spent on this program. On December 26, 2011, The Japan Tourism Agency reported on their site that the "Fly to Japan! Project", which would have given out 10,000 round-trip tickets to Japan, was not approved by the government for fiscal year 2012.

By 2012, international tourism in Japan had inflows had recovered to pre-2011 levels.

Major tourist destinations

Goko Five Lakes in Shiretoko (WHS)
Shirakami-Sanchi (WHS)
Shinjuku in Tokyo, and Mount Fuji
Shirakawa-gō (WHS)
Japanese Alps from Kamikōchi
Tōdai-ji Daibutsu in Nara (WHS)
Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine (WHS)
Shikoku Pilgrimage (Zentsū-ji)
Kumamoto Castle, Kumamoto
Ishigaki Island, Okinawa

Hokkaido

Tōhoku region

Kantō region

Chūbu region

Kansai region

Chūgoku region

Shikoku

Kyushu and Okinawa

See also


This page was last updated at 2023-12-30 18:20 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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