Since March, Kansai International Airport in Osaka has increased its takeoff and landing capacity by 30%, and international flights between China and Japan have gradually resumed or increased in frequency.
According to projections by the Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau, the number of visitors from mainland China in the first half of 2025 is likely to surpass the 2.58 million recorded in the same period of 2019. If this trend continues, the full-year figure could break the all-time high of 5.64 million set in 2019.
In addition to Japan’s easing of visa policies for Chinese travelers, the ongoing Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai is also expected to further boost tourism.
From January to March 2025, Osaka welcomed a total of 4.17 million international visitors, a 35% year-on-year increase. This marks the second consecutive quarter with over 4 million visitors, up by 170,000 compared to the previous record high in Q4 2024.
The primary driver of this growth was mainland Chinese tourists, who made up 30% of the total—about 1.275 million—up 90% year-on-year. This figure also surpassed the number of Chinese visitors to Tokyo during the same period.
However, Takayuki Miyajima, a senior economist at Sony Financial Group, noted that the average nightly accommodation spending per Chinese visitor in 2024, when converted to Chinese yuan, was down 16% compared to 2019.
The 2024 data also shows a shift in spending patterns: the proportion of shopping in the total per-capita spending by Chinese visitors to Japan dropped from over 50% pre-pandemic to around 40%—a marked contrast to the once-frenzied “explosive buying" behavior.
