Tourism in Japan is a major industry and contributor to the Japanese economy. In 2019, the sector directly contributed 11 trillion yen (US$100 billion), or 2% of the GDP, and attracted 31.88 million international tourists.[1][2][3] In 2024, 36.87 million international tourists visited Japan.[4][5][6]
The 2024Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report ranked Japan 3rd 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.[7]
In medieval Japan, travel became increasingly common with cultural and aristocratic figures from Kyoto, and they initiated the genre of travel literature in Japan. Notable examples of travel literature from this period include the Tosa Nikki (935), part of the Sarashina Nikki (12th century), and the volume 4 of the Tohazugatari (1313).[8] By the late medieval period, supported by a network of inns offering fixed-rate lodging and meals, travel was widespread. Hot springs such as Kusatsu, Arima, and Gero gained fame, attracting notable figures such as warriors and monks. Tourist souvenirs including ladles and toothpicks were popular among visitors. Pilgrimages to Mount Fuji also flourished.[9]
Travelling was popularised through travel literature and ukiyo-e
During the Edo period, despite restrictions on travelling through checkpoints, guidebooks facilitated the popularisation of travel. Commoners with permits could undertake leisure trips, often disguised as pilgrimages. Inns, teahouses, and local products thrived, and travel information spread via diaries and ukiyo-e prints. Pilgrimages such as the Ise Grand Shrine’s Okage Mairi became major social phenomena, marking the beginnings of a modern tourism industry. However, foreign travel was extremely rare due to Japan's isolation policy. Matsuo Bashō's 1689 trip to the then "far north" of Japan, which inspired his famous haibun work Oku no Hosomichi, occurred not long after Hayashi Razan categorized the Three Views of Japan in 1643. During this time, Japan was a closed country to foreigners, so no foreign tourism existed in Japan.
Japan opened its borders in the late Edo period, but due to its location in the Far East and the limited transport options, there were not many foreign visitors. Foreigners eventually gained the freedom to travel within Japan, and efforts to actively attract international tourists began on the Japanese side. In 1912, the Japan Travel Bureau (JTB) was established. 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.[10] During the interwar period, overseas travel to distant places such as Europe and the Americas was primarily limited to businesspeople, immigrants, and students, with leisure travel being mostly reserved for the wealthy.
In terms of domestic tourism, the dismantling of the feudal system, the development of transport networks such as railways and steamships, and the spread of information made domestic travel easier. Tourism-oriented travel became increasingly popular, and regions across Japan began developing themselves for sightseeing and leisure purposes. Long-distance domestic travel became accessible.
Postwar period
During the postwar Allied occupation period, most foreign tourists in Japan were GHQ personnel or visitors from the United States. In 1954, Konosuke Matsushita, the founder of Panasonic, contributed an article titled The Case for a Tourism-Oriented Nation to the Bungei Shunju. Matsushita argued that tourism could be considered a form of trade, and he pointed out that while exporting goods involves depleting Japan's resources, scenic attractions such as Mount Fuji and the Seto Inland Sea remain unchanged no matter how often they are viewed. He proposed that revenue earned through inbound tourism could be reinvested in other industries, and help rebuild the country's economy beyond its pre-war stature.[11]
The Visit Japan campaign, launched by the Koizumi administration in 2003 with the catchphrase 'Yokoso! Japan!', was the country's first government-backed initiative to promote inbound tourism.
For much of post-war period, Japan has been an exceptionally unattractive tourist destination for its population and GDP size. According to the IMF, WTO, and OECD, from 1995 to 2014, it was by far the least visited country.[12] As of 2013, Japan was one of the least visited countries in the OECD on a per capita basis.[13] Japan avoided campaigns to attract inbound tourists, especially because its large current account surplus had caused international friction with some countries. There were also factors such as Japan being the world's most expensive countries at the time (for example, Tokyo was rated by the Economist Intelligence Unit as the most expensive city in the world for 14 years in a row ending in 2006), as well as the language barrier.[14]
Active promotion of inbound tourism (21st century)
From 2013, under the Abe administration, policies to attract international tourists were implemented to offset the shrinking domestic demand caused by population decline and ageing. As a result, by 2014, for the first time in 55 years, income from foreign tourists exceeded the amount spent by Japanese tourists abroad, which means Japan finally ran a tourism surplus. Within six years, the number of international visitors has more than tripled, reaching 31.9 million visitors in 2019.[15] Japan received a record 36.87 million tourist arrivals in 2024, an increase of over 47% from the year prior.
Current status
Domestic tourism remains a vital part of Japanese economy and Japanese culture. Across the nation, 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. In 2019, the value was up to 1.0% of GDP, driven by an increase in international tourism, while the country's GDP has remained stable.[16][17]
Tourists from South Korea have made up the largest number of inbound tourists several times in the past. In 2010, their 2.4million arrivals made up 27% of the tourists visiting Japan.[18] Travelers from China have been the highest spenders in Japan by country, spending an estimated 196.4billion yen (US$2.4billion) in 2011, or almost a quarter of total expenditure by foreign visitors, according to data from the Japan Tourism Agency.[19] From 2016 to 2020, Japanese government hoped to receive 40 million foreign tourists every year by 2020.[20] 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.[21]Japanese film, TV, video game, and manga/anime industries play 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.[22]
Overtourism
Following the easing of COVID-19-era travel restrictions, 2024 is on track to be a record-breaking year for the number of overseas tourists.[23] This tourism boom can be attributed in part to the weakening Japanese yen.[23] The unprecedented number of foreign tourists has led to claims that some parts of Japan are suffering from overtourism.[23][24]
In response to this surge, officials in some parts of Japan have introduced measures to counter its negative effects. For example, Yamanashi Prefecture has set a cap of daily climbers of Mount Fuji at 4,000 people and began charging an entrance fee of ¥2,000.[24] Also in Yamanashi Prefecture, a mesh barrier was set up to block a view of Mount Fuji behind a Lawson convenience store in Fujikawaguchiko due to tourist-caused disturbances in the area.[25]
As of 2024, some Japanese officials have considered instituting a two-tiered pricing system which would have foreign tourists pay more than residents at certain tourist attractions in order to counter the effects of overtourism.[26][27]
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