Chinese Tourists to Japan Down 60% During Lunar New Year

In Tokyo’s Asakusa district, usually bustling with international guests, vacationers from areas that commemorate the Lunar New Year have been seen in giant numbers. Visitors from South Korea and Indonesia mentioned they’d come to mark the vacation interval. At the identical time, some Chinese vacationers famous that there seemed to be fewer guests from China than earlier than, with one traveler from Beijing saying that foreigners appeared extra quite a few general and one other from Henan estimating that Chinese customer numbers had fallen by 50% to 60%.

Businesses providing experiences reminiscent of rickshaw rides and kimono leases, which had drawn many Chinese vacationers by way of 2025, are additionally feeling the change. Aiko Ozawa of Jidaiya, which handles Japanese cultural experiences, mentioned that primarily based on her impression, the variety of Chinese guests has certainly declined general.

At a well known filming spot close to Kamakurakoko-mae Station on the Enoden Line—well-known as a location related to the anime Slam Dunk—vacationers from Chile and Malaysia mentioned they’d come due to the sequence or on household journeys. Before the Chinese authorities started urging its residents to keep away from journey to Japan, the crossing had been filled with guests taking photographs, however a go to on January 18 instructed noticeably fewer individuals than in 2025. A vacationer from Shanghai mentioned this was their second go to and that probably the most noticeable change was the drop in crowds, including that frequent news about Japan–China relations had led relations to advise towards touring.

According to figures launched on January 18, about 385,000 Chinese guests got here to Japan in January 2026, down greater than 60% from the identical interval a yr earlier. The results are being felt throughout the nation.

In Osaka’s Shinsekai district, companies say the scenario throughout this yr’s Lunar New Year differs markedly from final yr. At a restaurant common with Chinese vacationers, Katsuya Ueyama, chairman of Kushikatsu Daruma, mentioned customer numbers have been clearly decrease than normal, estimating them at about one-fifth of regular ranges.

In Bibai, Hokkaido, which has attracted many international guests in recent times searching for winter actions, reservations from Chinese vacationers throughout the vacation interval totaled simply 50 individuals—one-fourteenth of the quantity seen in 2025. Takashi Komizu, supervisor of Alpen, mentioned the anticipated variety of Chinese guests had fallen considerably beneath preliminary projections.

As the Chinese authorities’s name to chorus from journey exhibits no signal of ending, consideration has turned to the size of the financial affect.

Japan National Tourism Organization information launched on January 18 confirmed that the variety of Chinese guests to Japan in January stood at about 385,000, down 60% year-on-year. Since the Chinese authorities started urging residents in November 2025 to keep away from touring to Japan, the development has continued to say no.

The impact can be seen in journey spending. According to the Japan Tourism Agency’s inbound consumption survey, international customer spending totaled 2.2969 trillion yen within the October–December quarter of 2024, of which Chinese guests accounted for 430.3 billion yen. In the identical interval of 2025, general spending rose to 2.533 trillion yen, however spending by Chinese guests fell to 353.4 billion yen.

While spending by Chinese vacationers has declined, general inbound consumption has elevated, suggesting Japan could also be progressively decreasing its reliance on Chinese demand. However, Masato Koike, a senior researcher at Sompo Institute Plus, estimates that if per-visitor spending stays unchanged from final yr, consumption throughout the Lunar New Year interval alone may fall by 48.5 billion yen, pushing down Japan’s GDP by about 0.01%.

Source: TBS