When China urged citizens to boycott traveling to Japan, many wondered what the impact would be on Japan’s travel industry. The answer appears to be: not much. While tourism from China is way down, travel from other countries more than made up the difference, leading Japan to another record-setting month.
South Korea and Taiwan take the lead
The Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) reports that Japan saw 3,466,700 inbound visitors in February 2026. While not an overall record, it’s the highest number of inbound tourists to visit in any February on record.
The most striking part of the new statistics is the drastic drop in visits from China. The Chinese government has called on travelers to boycott the country after Japan’s Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae made comments saying Japan would defend Taiwan from Chinese aggression.
The call led to an immediate financial impact on hotels in Kyoto and other popular travel destinations. The dip continued in February, with only 394,400 people arriving in Japan for vacation. That’s a 45.2% drop from February 2025.
The dip, however, didn’t put much of a dent in Japan’s overall travel numbers. Travel from South Korea surged by 28.2%, to 1,086,400 people for the month, making the country once again the largest source of Japanese tourism. Taiwan saw a 36.7% increase in Japan-bound travelers, putting it in the number two spot.
Even Hong Kong, which saw a dip in travel to Japan in 2025 amid unfounded rumors of a massive tsunami, saw a nice little surge. Travel was up 19.6% compared to 2025’s numbers.
US keeps surging as Japan appeals to long-stay travelers
Japanese officials connected to tourism have maintained that, rather than address the decline in Chinese travelers, their focus would be on appealing more to travelers from the West. There’s a good reason for that.
While most travelers from Asia stay only a few nights, travelers from Western countries are more likely to stay a week or longer. These travelers also spend more per day. This makes them a higher value target for tourism promotion.
That strategy appears to be paying off. Travel from the United States, according to JNTO, was up 14.7% in February 2026 compared to February 2025. Travel is also up from France, Germany, Canada, and the UK. Mexico and Russia also saw huge percentage increases – 42.8% and 35.9%, respectively.
Getting tourists to spread out
The challenge for Japan now is accommodating this increasing influx of tourism. The Japanese press in 2025 was dominated by headlines about overtourism, as locations like Ine in Kyoto and Shirakawa-gō saw their tranquility busted by travelers who couldn’t distinguish between tourist traps and people’s homes.
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Some businesses and municipalities in Japan have responded by enacting two-tier pricing for popular sites. The goal is to use funds from overseas tourists to help maintain historical landmarks and fund additional staff to manage the influx of visitors.
JNTO and other related organizations are also doing their part to encourage travelers to Japan to spread out and take in more of the country. Locations like Kanazawa, Toyama, and Katsuyama offer an authentic Japan experience with fewer crowds than cities like Tokyo and Kyoto.
As we’ve written before, though, even mammoth cities like Tokyo are host to hidden gems that often go ignored by most travelers. You just have to know where to look.
Discover the “unseen” side of Japan
Japan is on everyone’s travel bucket list. Sadly, many end up going to the same places as everyone else. That can turn what could have been a fun, once-in-a-lifetime experience into an exhausting battle with crowds.
We started Unseen Japan Tours for the same reason we started Unseen Japan: To give people a unique glimpse into Japan they can’t get anywhere else. Let us create a custom itinerary of hard-to-find spots centered on your interests. We can also serve as your guides and interpreters, taking you to places that non-Japanese-speaking tourists usually can’t access.
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Sources
２月の訪日中国人４割減 旧正月で全体は過去最高―日本政府観光局. Jiji.com
訪日外客数（2026年2月推計値）. JNTO
