Overview
- Official JNTO data show 396,400 visitors from mainland China in February, down 45.2% year over year, while South Korea led with 1.1 million, up 28.2%.
- The slump has stretched across three months, with Chinese arrivals falling about 45% in December and 60.7% in January.
- Eighteen countries and regions set February visitor records to Japan, including South Korea, Taiwan, and the United States, helped by this year’s mid‑February Lunar New Year timing.
- Travel patterns have rerouted as other markets report more Chinese visitors, including 418,703 arrivals to South Korea in January versus 364,460 a year earlier and a 4.24% rise to Thailand in January–February.
- Tourism operators caution that the downturn could carry into the cherry‑blossom season, with one Tokyo Bay hotel reporting its Chinese guest count has halved since November.