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 Japanese economy. Foreigners visit Japan to see natural wonders, cities, historic landmarks, and entertainment venues. Japanese people seek similar attractions, as well as recreation and vacation areas.

As of 2019, Japan attracted 31.88 million international tourists.[1] 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.[2]

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.[3]

For much of post-war period, Japan has been an exceptionally unattractive tourist destination for its population and GDP size. However, according to the IMF, WTO, and OECD, from 1995 to 2014, it was by far the least visited country.[4] As of 2013, Japan is one of the least visited countries in the OECD on a per capita basis.[5]

Current status

Domestic tourism remains a vital part of Japanese economy and Japanese culture. Across the nationwide, Japanese children in many middle schools see the highlight of their years as a visit to Tokyo Tower, Yomiuriland, Tokyo Disneyland, Sensō-ji, and/or Tokyo Skytree, 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.[6][7]

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.[8]

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.[9]

From 2016 to 2020, Japanese government hoped to receive 40 million foreign tourists every year by 2020.[10] 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.[11]

Japanese film, TV, video game, and manga/anime industries, who lead a role in driving tourism to Japan. In surveys held by Statista between 2019 and 2020, 24.2% of tourists from the United States, said they were motivated to visit Japan because of Japanese popular culture.[12]

Contribution to the national crises

Following the triple meltdown of Fukushima nuclear reactors in Fukushima Prefecture caused by the earthquake and tsunami, the number of foreign visitors in Japan were declined for the first time since 2009. However, in September 2011, some 539,000 foreign tourisms visited Japan, 25 percent down, compared with the same month in 2010. This decline was largely attributed to the natural disasters including Fukushima nuclear accident and the stronger yen made a visit to Japan more expensive.

In October 2011, Japan Tourism Agency announced that a plan to give 10,000 round-trip air tickets to Japan to encourage visitors to come and to boost tourism. On December 26, 2011, 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.[13]

By 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.[14][15] International tourism in Japan had inflows had recovered to pre-2011 levels.[16]

In early 2020, Japan received only 4.1 million foreign tourists in the country amid many countries tightening travel restrictions due to the global COVID-19 pandemic in the worldwide, which was the first time visitor statistics fell since the Great Recession in 2008.[17] In January and September 2021, tourism in Japan had also further dipped to 245,862 foreign visitors, which was a 88% decrease as compared to 2020. In October 2021 as the country lifted the fourth state of emergency up and ahead of the endemic phase, Japanese government announced that many domestic visitors will be only resumed and waived from the pandemic, in a move to reopening domestic travel with the introduction of vaccinated travel lanes.

In late November 2021, amid the spread of a highly transmissible COVID-19 Omicron variant, many countries including Japan were still had tightening travel restrictions, with some governments banning travel completely to curb transmission.

In September 2022, Japanese government announced that visa requirements from some countries will be waived from October 2022, in a move to reopening international travel after the pandemic border restrictions.[18][19] Prior to the pandemic, Japan did not require tourist visas for 68 countries and regions.

Tourism statistics

Foreign tourists to Japan

These are the top 35 nationalities that visited Japan from 2017 to 2022.[20]

Country/Territory Total
11/2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
 South Korea 6,175,800 1,012,751 18,947 694,476 5,584,5977,538,9527,140,200
 Taiwan 3,802,900 331,097 5,016 487,939 4,890,6024,757,2584,564,100
 China（Mainland） 2,112,600 189,125 42,239 1,069,256 9,594,3948,380,0347,355,800
 Hong Kong 1,863,300 269,285 1,252 346,020 2,290,7922,207,8042,231,500
 United States 1,862,800 323,513 20,026 219,307 1,723,8611,526,4071,375,000
 Thailand 869,800 198,037 2,758 219,830 1,318,9771,132,160987,100
 Vietnam 536,800 284,113 26,586 152,559 495,051389,004308,900
 Philippines 543,100 126,842 5,625 109,110 613,114503,976424,200
 Australia 523,600 88,648 3,265 143,508 621,771552,440496,100
 Singapore 477,600 131,969 857 55,273 492,252437,280404,100
 Canada 389,400 55,877 3,536 53,365 375,262 330,600 305,591
 Indonesia 365,700 119,723 5,209 77,724 412,779396,852352,200
 Malaysia 355,000 74,095 1,831 76,573 501,592468,360439,500
 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 31,882,04931,191,85628,690,900

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

References

  1. ↑ "International tourism, number of arrivals - Japan | Data".
  2. ↑ "The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017" (PDF). World Economic Forum. April 2017.
  3. ↑ Leheny, David Richard (2003). The Rules of Play: National Identity and the Shaping of Japanese Leisure. Cornell University Press. p. 59. ISBN 0-8014-4091-2.
  4. ↑ "International tourism, number of arrivals - United States, Japan, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Canada | Data". data.worldbank.org. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  5. ↑ Silver, Nate (August 18, 2014). "The Countries Where You're Surrounded By Tourists". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  6. ↑ "International tourism, receipts (current US$) | Data". data.worldbank.org. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  7. ↑ "GDP (current US$) | Data". data.worldbank.org. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  8. ↑ Dickie, Mure (January 26, 2011). "Tourists flock to Japan despite China spat". Financial Times. Archived from the original on December 10, 2022. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
  9. ↑ "Tokyu Group in steadfast pursuit of Chinese tourists". TTGmice. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
  10. ↑ Bhattacharjya, Samhati (May 17, 2016). "Japan to offer 10-year multi-entry visas for Chinese as part of tourism push". International Business Times. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Japan Tourism Agency aims to draw more Western tourists amid boom in Asian visitors". Japan National Tourism Organization. February 6, 2018. Archived from the original on January 7, 2019.
  12. ↑ "Anime industry in Japan - statistics and facts". Statista. February 26, 2021.
  13. ↑ ""Fly to Japan! Project"(10,000 FREE FLIGHTS TO FOREIGNERS) | Japan Tourism Agency". Japan Tourism Agency. December 26, 2011. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
  14. ↑ NHK-world (October 21, 2011) Japan to give away air tickets to 10,000 visitors Archived October 23, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  15. ↑ JAIF (October 22, 2011)Earthquake report 242: Japan to give away air tickets to 10,000 visitors
  16. ↑ "International tourism, number of arrivals - Japan | Data". data.worldbank.org. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  17. ↑ NEWS, KYODO. "Foreign visitors to Japan in 2020 plunge 87.1%, biggest since 1964". Kyodo News+. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  18. ↑ "Japan to waive tourist visa requirements as part of border easing: Report". CNA. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
  19. ↑ "Japan to waive tourist visa requirements as part of border easing: Report". Japan to waive tourist visa requirements as part of border easing: Report - 'Channel News Asia' News | SendStory Singapore. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
  20. ↑ "2017年推計値" (PDF). Japan National Tourism Organization. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 8, 2016.
  21. ↑ "Overseas tourists are changing the face of Japan". Nikkei Asian Review.

Further reading

  • Graburn, Nelson HH. "The past in the present in Japan: nostalgia and neo-traditionalism in contemporary Japanese domestic tourism." in Change in tourism: people, places, processes (1995): 47-70.
  • Henderson, Joan Catherine. "Destination development: Trends in Japan's inbound tourism." International Journal of Tourism Research 19.1 (2017): 89-98. online
  • Ishimori, Shûzô. "Popularization and commercialization of tourism in early modern Japan." Senri Ethnological Studies 26 (1989): 179-194. online
  • Jimura, Takamitsu. Cultural heritage and tourism in Japan (Routledge, 2021) online.
  • McOmie, William, ed. Foreign Images and Experiences of Japan: 1: First Century AD-1841. (Brill, 2021). online
  • March, Roger. "How Japan solicited the West: the first hundred years of modern Japanese tourism." in CAUTHE 2007: Tourism-Past Achievements, Future Challenges (2007): 843-52. online
  • Robertson, Jennifer. "Hegemonic nostalgia, tourism, and nation-making in Japan." Senri ethnological studies 38 (1995): 89-103. online
  • Soshiroda, Akira. "Inbound tourism policies in Japan from 1859 to 2003." Annals of Tourism Research 32.4 (2005): 1100-1120.
  • Takeuchi, Keiichi. "Some remarks on the geography of tourism in Japan." GeoJournal (1984): 85-90. online
  • Tokuhisa, Tamao. "Tourism within, from and to Japan." International Social Science Journal 32.1 (1980): 128-150.
  • Uzama, Austin. "Yokoso! Japan: Classifying foreign tourists to Japan for market segmentation." Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management 21.2 (2012): 132-154.
  • Yanagi, Miyuki. "Reconsideration of Japan's tourism innovation characteristics." Geographical Research Bulletin 2 (2023): 29-38. online
  • Yasuda, Hiroko. "World heritage and cultural tourism in Japan." International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research 4.4 (2010): 366-375.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Japan.
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