Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism reported that the number of inbound cruise travelers was 356,000 in 2023, which was 14% of the peak in 2017. Japan restarted reopening International cruises in March 2023 after suspending them in March 2020 due to COVID-19.
The total number of cruise part calls in Japan increased by 2.5 times year on year to 1,854, which recovered to 63% of the peak in 2018. The total consisted of 1,264 port calls by foreign-based cruise ships and 590 port calls by Japan-based cruise ships.
The busiest port was Yokohama with 171 port calls, followed by Nagasaki with 96, Vella Vista Marina in Onomichi with 91 and Kobe with 91.
Port calls by foreign-based cruise ships recovered to 63% of the peak in 2017, and the busiest port was also Yokohama with 101, followed by Nagasaki with 95 and Kagoshima with 78.
The Japanese government has goals of 2.5 million inbound cruise travelers, more than 2,000 port calls by foreign-based cruise ships and 100 ports receiving foreign-based cruise ships in 2025.
