Foreign visitors to Japan hit a record 42.7 million last year, topping the 40-million mark for the first time, tourism minister Yasushi Kaneko said Tuesday, steadily inching toward the government¡¯s goal of 60 million by 2030.

The number of foreign visitors has been rising after Japan reopened the borders following COVID-19-era restrictions. The figure was a record-high for two years in a row, with 36.87 million foreign visitors coming to Japan in 2024. Foreign travelers have been a boon for the Japanese economy, spending a record ?9.5 trillion in 2025, up from ?8.1 trillion in the year before.

However, Chinese visitors ¡ª historically the largest inbound market ¡ª plunged 45% in December as the country restricted tourism to its neighbor amid a simmering diplomatic dispute between the two nations. The overall number of Chinese visitors in 2025, though, increased about 30% year on year.

With the row with China still unresolved, the number of Chinese tourists is likely to decline from last year during the Chinese New Year holiday in February.

The appetites of tourists from elsewhere, however, remain robust. Foreign visitors from the combined countries of Europe, the U.S. and Australia were up 22% year on year, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

Inbound travelers from Asia, in particular, made up the largest proportion of visitors in 2025, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization¡¯s latest available figures.

While Japan has actively welcomed more tourism, at times visitors¡¯ bad behaviors or cultural misunderstandings have resulted in societal friction.

Highly concentrated tourism in cities like Kyoto have also triggered cries of overtourism and worries about this having a negative impact on the overall tourism experience, such as heavy traffic and long waiting lines, all while affecting the day-to-day lives of the local residents.

In response, officials have sought to redistribute tourism flows and promote off-the-beaten-track areas of Japan to help boost struggling local economies there.

While increased tourism is helping to stimulate the economy, it has also put pressure on Japan¡¯s service industries, with a 29% shortfall in workers anticipated in 2035, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council.

The weakness of the yen against the dollar made traveling to Japan more affordable, contributing to Japan¡¯s allure, but Japanese culture and food is also having a moment. For example, a matcha frenzy led to soaring prices and a global shortage last year, while foreign tourists flocked to ¡°Instagrammable¡± matcha cafes in Japan.