Tourism to Japan Soars, Exceeds Pre-Pandemic Levels

Japan is setting records for the number of tourists visiting — and it’s doing this despite record low turnout from China.

By Jay Allen

Tourism has been on the rise since Japan re-opened its doors in October 2022. Now, the country’s tourism agency says that business is better than it was even before the pandemic.

Who’s coming to Japan?

As we’ve covered before, tourism to Japan went from overflowing to nonexistent in the blink of an eye when the COVID-19 crisis hit. Since October 2022, however, the number of tourists has steadily increased.

We reported recently that tourist spending had already surpassed pre-pandemic levels. Now, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization, the number of visitors is setting new records as well.

The JNTO reported this week that, for the month of October, 2,561,500 people visited Japan. That exceeds the October 2019 totals — the first time that’s happened since re-opening. This is also the fifth month in a row that visitors to…