Japan's tourism growth stalls as Chinese visitor numbers drop sharply

Japan recorded its first year‑on‑year decline in monthly inbound visitor numbers since 2019, with the steep fall in arrivals from mainland China linked to rising political tensions; Chinese airlines have generally cut capacity to Japan while Japanese carriers have kept their capacity to China relatively stable.

In contrast, tourism from South Korea to Japan is booming and inbound travel from Taiwan remains strong, making South Korea the largest source of visitors to Japan.