On April 14 and April 18, the Chinese Embassy in Japan released two important public notices:
* A recent earthquake risk assessment has raised the probability of a Nankai Trough megathrust earthquake occurring in Japan within the next 30 years to 80%. Such an event could result in up to 298,000 fatalities and USD 1.8 trillion in economic losses.
* Meanwhile, Japan has seen a growing trend in violent incidents and random attacks. Cases of infectious gastroenteritis caused by norovirus and other pathogens have also spiked to their highest levels in nearly a decade for this season.
Despite these warnings, travel data points to a continuing increase in Chinese outbound tourism to Japan, providing a notable boost to local tourism spending.
As the May Day holiday approaches, Japan remains one of the most popular destinations for Chinese travelers.
High travel demand has led to room shortages and price spikes in major Japanese tourist hubs such as Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, and Okinawa.
According to UTour, interest in Japan-bound travel products for the May Day peak period has risen steadily since March, with visitor numbers expected to grow by about 15% year-on-year.
Tongcheng Travel data ranks Osaka and Tokyo among the top five most popular destinations.
FlightAI projects that during the upcoming May Day period, travel to Japan and South Korea will see year-on-year increase of more than 20%.
