Japan Bound

The number of international visitors to Japan in February 2025 was up 16.9% year on year to 3,258,100, marking the first over 3 million in February for the first time.

The Future City Pavilion of EXPO 2025 Osaka, Kansai was completed. 12 Japanese leading manufacturers and organizations showcases their innovations for the future society.

Tourism EXPO Japan 2025 Aichi/Central Japan will be held with a theme of ‘‘Travel for Discovery and New Encounters.’ at Aichi Sky Expo from September 25 to 28, expected 100,000 visitors.

Tokyo Metro will start a new service to enable a passenger to get on subway with touch payment of credit card or QR code for 24-hours digital ticket, using e-ticket booking platform Linktivity’s scheme.

Hokkaido District Transport Bureau launched a website to inform foreign backcountry skiers or snowboarders of three tips for safer experiences.

The number of international guests in December 2024 was up 22.9% year on year to 15.4 million. The ratio of those staying in local regions expanded from 28.2% in December 2022 to 33.6% in December 2024.

Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) hosted ‘Japan Luxury Showcase 2025,’ a BtoB event for global travel companies that have luxury travel customers. 40 buyers from 16 countries and 45 domestic sellers met for business discussions.

Osaka Prefecture will raise the lowest targeting accommodation price from 7,000 currently to 5,000 yen and the tax rates on September 1 2025, expected to increase tax revenue from 2.5 billion yen a year in 2023 to 8 billion yen a year.

The number of international visitors to Japan in January 2025 was up 40.6% year on year to 3,781,200, breaking the single-month record for two months in a row, boosted by Chinese New Year holidays.

Hankyu Travel International, a Japanese travel agent, will charter ‘Le Jacques Cartier,’ a cruise ship of France-based Ponant, in March and April 2027 to offer Setonaikai cruise tours to luxury international travelers to Japan.

The occupancy rate of hotels in Kyoto City was 78.5% in 2024, 5.1 higher points than 2023. The average daily rate (ADR) was record-high 20,195 yen, higher than 17,403 yen in 2023 or 15,610 yen in 2019.

Highway bus WILLER's Chinese passengers increased to 2,473 as of January 28 2025 during the Chinese New Year holiday period (January 13 to February 23 2025), which were about 11 times more than a year ago.

Japan ticket, an e-ticket management system provider for international travelers to Japan, has started connecting with Klook to allow users to book tourism experiences provided by Japan ticket on the Klook platform.

Sumitomo Mitsui Card revealed that international visitors to Japan paid 55.3% more money with credit cards during the period from January to November 2024 than a year ago. Payments in hotels, ryokans, restaurants and amusement parks increased,

Weather News announced that cherry blossom is expected to bloom nationwide earlier than usual. The earliest blooming is seen in Tokyo on March 21, and blooming will begin in Hakodate on April 22.

A new large-scale amusement park ‘JUNGLIA OKINAWA’ will open in the northern part of Okinawa Prefecture on July 25 2025, differentiating prices between residents in Japan and international visitors. Economic ripple effect is estimated at 6.8 trillion yen for 15 years.

Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) Executive Senior Vice President mentioned a possibility of 40 million international visitors in 2025, "I believe that the current strong trend will be unchanged. We continue developing active promotions.”

JAL will launch daily services between Narita and Chicago on May 31 2025. Japan Transocean Air (JTA) a JAL Group airline, will launch its first international services between Naha and Taipei by the end of FY2025.

KKday Japan announced bookings of winter activities and local experiences in Tohoku area rapidly increased among inbound travelers to Japan during this year’s Chinese New Year, influenced by postings on SNS.

Kyoto City plans to raise accommodation tax from currently 200 to 1,000 yen a night to10,000 yen a night at most, The proposed new tax rule are divided into five categories.