Foreign visitors to Japan fell 3.6% year-on-year to 3,559,900 in May, marking the second consecutive month of decline, according to data released by the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) on June 17.
The impact of Chinese government advisories against traveling to Japan continues to weigh on arrivals.
Visitors from mainland China dropped sharply by 60.4% to 313,000, recording a year-on-year decrease for the sixth consecutive month.
In contrast, South Korea remained the top source market with 951,300 visitors—a 15.2% increase and a record high for May. Taiwan followed with 616,800 visitors (+14.6%), also setting a new May record.
Visitors from the Middle East surged 67.8% to 39,000, setting a new monthly record. Turkish arrivals were particularly strong, supported by holiday travel demand in May.
For the first five months of the year, cumulative foreign visitor arrivals reached 17.94 million.
