Overview
- Total inbound visitors fell 4.9% year on year in January 2026 to 3,597,500, the first monthly decline since January 2022, according to JNTO.
- Arrivals from mainland China dropped 60.7% to 385,300 after Beijing urged citizens in November to avoid Japan following remarks by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about a Taiwan contingency.
- South Korea became the top source market with a record 1.176 million visitors in January, as arrivals from Taiwan and the United States rose and visitors from Hong Kong declined.
- JNTO also pointed to the Lunar New Year falling in mid-February this year and reduced China–Japan flight frequencies as factors weighing on January traffic.
- Duty-free sales at leading department stores fell in January, and airlines have curtailed services between China and Japan through March, underscoring the economic strain.