How many tourists visit Japan every year?
Japan has long been one of the world’s top travel destinations, known for its unique blend of tradition and modernity. Each year, millions of international visitors are drawn to its vibrant cities, historic temples, and stunning natural landscapes. But just how many tourists visit Japan annually, and how has this number changed over time? Let's get into that!
Let’s take a look at historical data about total monthly number of international tourists to Japan over the last decade:
We get two strong insights just looking at this chart:
For us, travel enthusiasts, this shows a very strong demand in visiting this country and its high attractiveness. Japan has created safe environment to fulfill a really high demand in its touristic attractions and now its tourism keeps booming.
Japan's post-COVID recovery is a result of an outstanding job of its government. Japan applied highly effective safety protocols and border control policies to make it happen. The safety protocols during the pandemic consisted of masking, social distancing, and sanitizing in public spaces which made travelers feel at ease; thus, Japan was a safe place to visit.
Moreover, the country opened its borders gradually until announcing on April 29, 2023, that all pandemic-related entry restrictions would be dropped. By 2024, international travel to Japan increased by 15.6% from 2019's pre-pandemic numbers.
Let’s take a look at annual chart of Japanese international tourism to see this evidence more clearly:
While global tourism reached only 99% of pre-pandemic levels in 2024, Japan outperformed this metric. It’s a huge green light for tourists who wanted to visit this country. However, let’s take a look at the annual growth of Japan international tourism.
Now, let us have a broader look at the dynamics of Japan international visitors:
We can see that Japanese tourism started growing intensively since 2011. What was the reason? Following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, the government intensified efforts to revitalize the economy through tourism, they relaxed visa requirements for travelers from Southeast Asia and China and invested in tourism infrastructure. Also, the depreciation of the yen during this period also made Japan a more affordable destination for foreign visitors.
Pro insight for travelers: The Japanese yen has depreciated by 25% against the U.S. dollar and the euro over the past five years. It means you can afford more during your trip to Japan compared to the pre-COVID prices.
At the same time, if we estimate the growth projection of international tourism to Japan, we expect an almost 30% YoY growth in 2025 compared to 2024.
For travel enthusiasts like us it means two things: Japanese tourism infrastructure is likely to develop, we can receive higher quality services and accommodation for lower prices as the competition in the industry evolves. On the other hand, this can also lead to overcrowding of the popular destinations.
While popular destinations like Tokyo and Kyoto often feel overcrowded (especially during peak seasons such as cherry blossom or Golden Week) this crowding is highly localized. With nearly 47 million international visitors projected for 2025, most tourists concentrate in a handful of well-known areas, creating bottlenecks at famous spots.
Pro insight for travelers: avoid these overvisited attractions and explore Japan’s lesser-known regions, ideally during shoulder or even low seasons, when these hidden gems offer a quieter, more immersive experience.
Japan’s tourism boom reflects not just recovery, but a structural shift in global travel behavior—driven by currency dynamics, regional mobility, and repeat visitation loyalty. With 67.7% of tourists returning, and a 25% yen depreciation making travel more affordable, Japan has become a high-frequency, high-value destination in the Asia-Pacific region.
As repeat visitors dominate, tourists increasingly seek experiences beyond famous landmarks; they crave depth, local flavor, and personal connection. This is where free walking tours shine: they explore everyday life, lesser-known neighborhoods, and cultural rituals. They are perfectly positioned to meet this rising demand. In a maturing tourism market like Japan’s, storytelling and authenticity become the new premium.
Let’s analyze what countries dominate as the most frequent visitors to Japan.
Before COVID-19, China led inbound tourism to Japan due to rapid growth, visa relaxations, and high demand for group travel. After the pandemic, slower outbound recovery, delayed group tour resumption, and political tensions held China back. Meanwhile, South Korea reopened earlier and saw faster rebounds, allowing it to overtake China in tourist numbers.
With Asia no longer the sole driver of Japan’s inbound tourism, the growing presence of European and American travelers is prompting broader localization. Visitors from the West can increasingly expect more English-language support, cultural adaptation, and tailored experiences as Japan expands its tourism strategy beyond regional dependence.
Most visited cities in Japan
The steep drop in visit rates beyond Japan’s top five prefectures reveals a heavy concentration of tourist activity, reflecting both overtourism risks and underutilized regional potential. While avoiding hotspots like Tokyo and Osaka can help travelers find lower prices and fewer crowds, it also exposes gaps in multilingual support, infrastructure, and service readiness in lesser-visited areas.
Here is the breakdown of tourist expectations when travelling to Japan:
Let’s also see how the tourists’ goals changed over time:
The growing dominance of food and alcohol experiences in Japan's tourism goals reflects a broader global trend: travelers are seeking immediate, sensory engagement over traditional sightseeing. While this shift may seem to prioritize consumption over cultural depth, it actually offers a powerful entry point.
If you are a marketer, this is your chance to use food and drink as gateways to storytelling, cultural education, and product discovery. If you are a traveler, following your appetite can lead you to deeper, more meaningful experiences beyond the plate. If you are a policymaker, it’s a signal to invest in connecting culinary tourism with local heritage and regional revitalization.
To project the number of international tourists to Japan for each month of 2025, we applied the exact year-over-year (YoY) growth rates observed between 2023 and 2024 to the corresponding months in 2024. This method preserves the seasonal pattern while factoring in realistic monthly growth trends. January 2025 was adjusted to align with the known actual value, ensuring consistency across the projection.
Key facts:
- In 2024, international tourism in Japan fully recovered, surpassing pre-COVID levels by 15.6% compared to 2019.
- Japan is projected to welcome 47,693,800 international tourists in 2025.
- Japanese tourism nearly doubled over the last decade, growing 1.9 times between 2015 and 2024.
- Japan welcomed 36,869,900 international tourists in 2024.
- Japan is projected to average 4,224,198 international tourists per month in 2025.
- Japan averaged 3,072,512 international tourists per month in 2024.
What is the number of tourists in Japan?
Let’s take a look at historical data about total monthly number of international tourists to Japan over the last decade:
We get two strong insights just looking at this chart:
- International tourism in Japan fully recovered post COVID-19
- Japan welcomed more than 3 million international tourists monthly in 2024
For us, travel enthusiasts, this shows a very strong demand in visiting this country and its high attractiveness. Japan has created safe environment to fulfill a really high demand in its touristic attractions and now its tourism keeps booming.
Japan tourism recovery
Japan's post-COVID recovery is a result of an outstanding job of its government. Japan applied highly effective safety protocols and border control policies to make it happen. The safety protocols during the pandemic consisted of masking, social distancing, and sanitizing in public spaces which made travelers feel at ease; thus, Japan was a safe place to visit.
Moreover, the country opened its borders gradually until announcing on April 29, 2023, that all pandemic-related entry restrictions would be dropped. By 2024, international travel to Japan increased by 15.6% from 2019's pre-pandemic numbers.
Let’s take a look at annual chart of Japanese international tourism to see this evidence more clearly:
- In 2024, international tourism in Japan exceeded pre-COVID levels, rising 15.6% above 2019.
While global tourism reached only 99% of pre-pandemic levels in 2024, Japan outperformed this metric. It’s a huge green light for tourists who wanted to visit this country. However, let’s take a look at the annual growth of Japan international tourism.
How many people visit Japan each year?
Now, let us have a broader look at the dynamics of Japan international visitors:
We can see that Japanese tourism started growing intensively since 2011. What was the reason? Following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, the government intensified efforts to revitalize the economy through tourism, they relaxed visa requirements for travelers from Southeast Asia and China and invested in tourism infrastructure. Also, the depreciation of the yen during this period also made Japan a more affordable destination for foreign visitors.
- Japanese tourism nearly doubled between 2015 and 2024, growing 1.9 times over the decade.
Pro insight for travelers: The Japanese yen has depreciated by 25% against the U.S. dollar and the euro over the past five years. It means you can afford more during your trip to Japan compared to the pre-COVID prices.
At the same time, if we estimate the growth projection of international tourism to Japan, we expect an almost 30% YoY growth in 2025 compared to 2024.
- Japan is projected to welcome 47,693,800 international tourists in 2025, 29.3% more than in 2024.
For travel enthusiasts like us it means two things: Japanese tourism infrastructure is likely to develop, we can receive higher quality services and accommodation for lower prices as the competition in the industry evolves. On the other hand, this can also lead to overcrowding of the popular destinations.
Is Japan crowded?
While popular destinations like Tokyo and Kyoto often feel overcrowded (especially during peak seasons such as cherry blossom or Golden Week) this crowding is highly localized. With nearly 47 million international visitors projected for 2025, most tourists concentrate in a handful of well-known areas, creating bottlenecks at famous spots.
Pro insight for travelers: avoid these overvisited attractions and explore Japan’s lesser-known regions, ideally during shoulder or even low seasons, when these hidden gems offer a quieter, more immersive experience.
What is the percentage of repeat tourists to Japan?
- 67.7% of international tourists to Japan were repeat visitors in 2024.
Japan’s tourism boom reflects not just recovery, but a structural shift in global travel behavior—driven by currency dynamics, regional mobility, and repeat visitation loyalty. With 67.7% of tourists returning, and a 25% yen depreciation making travel more affordable, Japan has become a high-frequency, high-value destination in the Asia-Pacific region.
As repeat visitors dominate, tourists increasingly seek experiences beyond famous landmarks; they crave depth, local flavor, and personal connection. This is where free walking tours shine: they explore everyday life, lesser-known neighborhoods, and cultural rituals. They are perfectly positioned to meet this rising demand. In a maturing tourism market like Japan’s, storytelling and authenticity become the new premium.
Japan tourism statistics by country
Let’s analyze what countries dominate as the most frequent visitors to Japan.
Before COVID-19, China led inbound tourism to Japan due to rapid growth, visa relaxations, and high demand for group travel. After the pandemic, slower outbound recovery, delayed group tour resumption, and political tensions held China back. Meanwhile, South Korea reopened earlier and saw faster rebounds, allowing it to overtake China in tourist numbers.
How many American tourists visit Japan each year?
- 3,478,768 American tourists visited Japan in 2024.
How many Chinese tourists visit Japan each year?
- 6,981,342 Chinese tourists visited Japan in 2024.
How many Korean tourists visit Japan each year?
- 8,817,765 Korean tourists visited Japan in 2024.
How many Taiwanese tourists visit Japan each year?
- 6,044,316 Taiwanese tourists visited Japan in 2024.
How many tourists from Hong Kong visit Japan each year?
- 2,683,391 tourists from Hong Kong visited Japan in 2024.
With Asia no longer the sole driver of Japan’s inbound tourism, the growing presence of European and American travelers is prompting broader localization. Visitors from the West can increasingly expect more English-language support, cultural adaptation, and tailored experiences as Japan expands its tourism strategy beyond regional dependence.
Most visited cities in Japan
How many tourists visit Tokyo each year?
- 18,966,805 tourists visited Tokyo in 2024, representing a visit rate of 51.5%.
How many tourists visit Osaka each year?
- 14,582,272 tourists visited Osaka in 2024, with a visit rate of 39.6%.
How many tourists visit Chiba Prefecture each year?
- 13,521,416 tourists visited Chiba Prefecture in 2024, at a visit rate of 36.6%.
How many tourists visit Kyoto each year?
- 10,867,783 tourists visited Kyoto in 2024, with a visit rate of 29.5%.
How many tourists visit Fukuoka Prefecture each year?
- 4,111,593 tourists visited Fukuoka Prefecture in 2024, representing a visit rate of 11.2%.
The steep drop in visit rates beyond Japan’s top five prefectures reveals a heavy concentration of tourist activity, reflecting both overtourism risks and underutilized regional potential. While avoiding hotspots like Tokyo and Osaka can help travelers find lower prices and fewer crowds, it also exposes gaps in multilingual support, infrastructure, and service readiness in lesser-visited areas.
Why do people go to Japan?
Here is the breakdown of tourist expectations when travelling to Japan:
- Eating Japanese food is the top tourist expectation, with over 82% of visitors prioritizing it.
- Interest in pop culture and anime settings remains niche, with less than 8% of tourists listing them as top activities.
- Eating Japanese food interests tourists over 3 times more than experiencing Japanese history and culture—82.2% vs. 26.8%.
Let’s also see how the tourists’ goals changed over time:
- From 2015 to 2024, interest in drinking Japanese alcoholic beverages grew the most, rising from 20.6% to 32.2%.
- Interest in bathing in a hot spring declined the most, dropping from 29.8% in 2015 to 24.3% in 2024.
The growing dominance of food and alcohol experiences in Japan's tourism goals reflects a broader global trend: travelers are seeking immediate, sensory engagement over traditional sightseeing. While this shift may seem to prioritize consumption over cultural depth, it actually offers a powerful entry point.
If you are a marketer, this is your chance to use food and drink as gateways to storytelling, cultural education, and product discovery. If you are a traveler, following your appetite can lead you to deeper, more meaningful experiences beyond the plate. If you are a policymaker, it’s a signal to invest in connecting culinary tourism with local heritage and regional revitalization.
Conclusions
- For travelers: Japan’s tourism boom means more choice—but also more crowds. With Japan projected to receive nearly 48 million visitors in 2025 and major cities like Tokyo and Kyoto accounting for the majority, travelers should expect congestion in hotspots. However, this also means more competitive pricing, better infrastructure, and improved service quality across the board. To enjoy the best of both worlds, independent travelers should explore lesser-visited regions during shoulder seasons, where cultural depth meets affordability.
- For free tour lovers: Japan’s rise in repeat tourism is your golden opportunity. With two thirds of tourists being repeat visitors in 2024, the demand for deeper, low-cost, and authentic local experiences is rising. Free tours can thrive by avoiding overused routes and tapping into emerging districts or cultural niches. Food and walking-based experiences are especially powerful hooks, as eating and shopping are now the top visitor motivations—use them as a bridge to introduce history, lifestyle, and tradition.
- For tour operators: Japan is no longer a single-market play—diversify or be replaced. Post-COVID shifts have decentralized Japan’s inbound tourism. South Korea, Taiwan, and now the U.S. are major contributors, while China’s rebound lags. Tour operators must localize offerings beyond East Asia—investing in multilingual support, online booking UX, and tailored narratives for American and European audiences. Focused product design around food, alcohol, and regional culture can convert curiosity into loyalty in this now globally competitive tourism economy.
Methodology
To project the number of international tourists to Japan for each month of 2025, we applied the exact year-over-year (YoY) growth rates observed between 2023 and 2024 to the corresponding months in 2024. This method preserves the seasonal pattern while factoring in realistic monthly growth trends. January 2025 was adjusted to align with the known actual value, ensuring consistency across the projection.
Sources
- "Japan-Bound Statistics - Tourism Statistics." JTB Tourism Research & Consulting Co., +202515-04, https://www.tourism.jp/en/tourism-database/stats/inbound/.
- Organization, Japan. "Data List | 日本の観光統計データ." Japan Tourism Statistics | 日本の観光統計データ, https://statistics.jnto.go.jp/en/graph/. Accessed 5 Jan. 2025.
- Japan Tourism Agency. (2024). White Paper on Tourism in Japan, 2024: Trends in 2023 Tourism Statistics. Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
Fact-checkedLast reviewed: May 19, 2025
Last updated: May 19, 2025
Licensed under CC BY 4.0
