(Photo: Reuters)Foreign visitors to Japan reached a record estimated 42.7 million in 2025, the government said on Tuesday, with their spending also at a new all-time high of 9.5 trillion yen (1.8 trillion baht), thanks to a weaker yen and increased flights to Japan. The fall came as an ongoing row between Japan and China appears likely to weigh on inbound travel trends in 2026. The decline in Chinese visitors was the first fall since January 2022 during the Covid-19 pandemic, the minister, adding the government is monitoring the situation around Chinese visitors. Kaneko said Japan will "engage in strategic Japan tourism promotion" amid a diversifying inbound market, highlighted by rising arrivals from Australia, Europe and the United States. To address challenges posed by the surge in inbound tourism, Japan will triple the international tourist tax, collected from all travellers leaving Japan, to 3,000 yen from July.

Source: Bangkok Post January 20, 2026 08:10 UTC