Japan tourist arrivals rise to record in December despite China drop

[TOKYO] Tourists to Japan hit a record high for the month of December despite the number of visitors from China plunging 45 per cent due to diplomatic tensions between the two Asian neighbours.

Beijing in November urged its citizens not to travel to Japan, seeking to punish Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi after she said a Chinese attack on Taiwan could amount to a “survival-threatening situation” and trigger a potential military response. China claims sovereignty over democratically governed Taiwan.

Tourists from China fell to about 330,000 people in December, making up less than 10 per cent of the 3.6 million visitors to Japan for the month. In the year to end-November, mainland Chinese tourists had made up the largest cohort of visitors to Japan, accounting for around a quarter of the total.

For all of 2025, tourist numbers to Japan hit a record 42.7 million people, exceeding 40 million for the first time, Japan’s tourism minister, Yasushi Kaneko, told a press conference.

Total spending by inbound tourists reached 9.5 trillion yen (S$77 billion) over the year, also a record high.

Japanese travel agency JTB has forecast a 2.8 per cent fall in overseas visitors to Japan this year, as the tourism boom that followed the end of coronavirus travel restrictions is expected to lose some steam and tourist numbers from Hong Kong and mainland China are likely to drop. REUTERS