Japan crosses 10 million visitors through March at fastest ever pace

Japan crossed the 10 million visitor mark at the fastest ever pace this year, reaching that level already in March, official data showed on Wednesday, as the weak yen propelled an unprecedented tourism boom.

Arrivals of foreign visitors for business and leisure reached 3.5 million last month, bringing the total through the first quarter to 10.54 million, data from the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) showed.

Last year, Japan reached 10 million visitors in April.

Foreign tourists gather on a platform at Kyoto station. AFP

For the whole of 2025, tourist arrivals are on pace to eclipse last year's all-time level of 36.87 million. The nation's famed cherry blossom season helped boost demand in March, which saw record arrivals for any single month among travellers from the United States and Canada, the JNTO said. The boom in tourist numbers, and their spending, has been a welcome boost to Japan's economy. Purchases by visitors, classified as exports in national accounts, are now Japan's second-biggest export sector after autos and ahead of electronic components. Spending by foreign visitors in the January-March amounted to 2.27 trillion yen ($16 billion), preliminary data from the transport ministry showed, up 28.4% from last year. Last year, visitors spent a record 8.1 trillion yen, up 53% from the prior year.

Reuters