Number of high-spending Chinese tourists visiting Japan halved last month after PM said an invasion of Taiwan could spark Japanese military involvement
Chinese tourism to Japan almost halved in December amid a bitter diplomatic row between Beijing and Tokyo over the security of Taiwan.
The number of tourists from mainland China dropped by about 45% from the same month a year earlier to about 330,000, Japan’s transport ministry said on Tuesday.
Despite the fall, Japan continues to be a popular destination for foreign visitors, with a record 42.7 million flocking to the country last year, comfortably surpassing the previous record, set in 2024, of almost 37 million.
Chinese tourism started falling towards the end of last year after Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, suggested her country could become militarily involved if China attempted to invade Taiwan.
