Over 3.4 Million Foreign Tourists Visit Japan in July

The number of international visitors to Japan in July rose 4.4% from a year earlier to 3.4 million, a record for the month, government estimates showed on Wednesday, as other nations were in their school holiday season.

As far as Japanese overseas travellers are concerned, a little over 1.2 million arrived in the country, thus registering a growth of 14.4% compared with the same period in 2024.

Recently, Japan has become a major travel destination, particularly for people from Russia (99.1%) and those from Middle East, which recorded a growth of 55% compared with last year, on the back of the ongoing 2025 Osaka EXPO, popularity of its culture, such as anime, and the yen’s depreciation, the government statistics revealed.

By country and region, China topped the list with 974,500 visitors, up 25.5% from the previous year, followed by South Korea with 678,600, a 10.4% decrease, the Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO) said.

JNTO said that visitors from Taiwan ranked third, gaining 5.7% to 604,200, a monthly record, due largely to increased flights connecting Japan and the territory. It also said that 15 markets, including the US, France and Indonesia, set new visitor records for July this year.

On a negative note, travel demand from Hong Kong (-36.9%), The Philippines (-14.5%), Singapore (-13.6%), South Korea (-10.4%), and Malaysia (-6%) was hit by a rumour on social media that Japan would suffer a devastating natural disaster in July, JNTO said.

Rumours Impact ASEAN Tourist Arrivals

Speculation of an earthquake, specifically on July 5, spread after a prediction in “The Future I Saw,” a manga by Japanese artist Ryo Tatsuki, even prompting the suspension of some regular flights between Japan and Hong Kong.

JNTO said that it will pursue the promotion of strategic inbound tourism while closely analysing market trends.

In the three-year plan through fiscal 2025, the government aims to boost travel spending per person to $1,355 and raise the average overnight stay in regional areas to two nights, compared with fiscal 2019 levels of around $1079 and 1.4 nights.