Tourists Visiting Japan Exceed 3 Million Mark for First Time

Boat ride on the moat of Himeji Castle with cherry blossoms in Japan.

March was a record month for Japan’s tourism industry with the country attracting a record 3.08 million visitors.

That’s 69.5 percent more than the amount of visitors the country welcomed during March one year earlier, according to Kyodo News. The figure also marks the first time Japan’s visitation levels have surpassed 3 million in a single month.

Overseas visitors to Japan are also spending more money, Kyodo News reported. The figure jumped to a record $11.3 billion for the first quarter of 2024, which is the highest ever for a three-month period.

“We can expect record highs for both arrivals and spending in 2024 if the current pace continues,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at a recent meeting of country leaders.

All of the good news arrives at a time when country leaders are working to promote Japan as a more tourism-focused country.

The last annual record of arrivals to Japan was reached back in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, when the country reported 31.88 million visitors. The previous monthly record, meanwhile, was set in July 2019, when some 2,991,189 people visited.

As for visitor spending, 2023 was also a good year for Japan’s tourism economy – visitors spent about 5.3 trillion yen (about $34 million.)

Looked at by source country, the largest number of visitors to Japan in March 2024 came from South Korea – 663,100. That figure is 13.2 percent higher than pre-pandemic levels.

Taiwan represents the second largest source market for visitors to Japan, with about 484,400 tourists arriving from the country. That’s an increase of 20.4 percent, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization’s estimates.

The record-breaking March visitation figures aligned with this year’s Easter holiday, during which many people travel. The newly released data shows that the number of travelers during March from the U.S. and the Philippines (both countries with large Christian populations), increased 64.3 percent and 63.2 percent respectively from 2019.