A Look at Trends in the Number of Foreign Visitors to Japan - Latest Inbound Market Statistics (as of July 2018)

According to the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), the number of inbound foreign visitors to Japan in July 2018 (estimated value) increased by 5.6% and more than 150,000 more than the same month last year, reaching a total of 2.832 million.
■Reference Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) Compilation and release of statistics on inbound visitors to Japan
https://www.jnto.go.jp/jpn/statistics/visitor_trends/

Let us now focus on China, South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong and calculate what percentage of the population of each country/region came to Japan!
■Percentage of foreign visitors to Japan by country/region in July 2018: population / number of foreign visitors
・China: 0.06% (population) 1.39 billion / (number of foreign visitors) 879,000
・South Korea: 1.2% (population) 51.5 million / (number of foreign visitors) 608,000
・Taiwan: 2% (population) 23.6 million / (number of foreign visitors) 461,000
・ Hong Kong: 3% (Population) 7.4 million / (Number of visitors) 227,000

(*Reference for population figures: IMF - World Economic Outlook Databases (April 2018 edition))
(http://www.imf.org/external/ns/cs.aspx?id=28)

The highest percentage came from Hong Kong, with 3 out of every 100 people visiting Japan in one month!

Surprisingly, China had the lowest percentage.
However, China had 879,000 inbound visitors to Japan in July, a record high for a single month, and with travel by cruise ship and an increase in the number of valid individual multiple-entry visa holders, we can expect more and more inbound visitors to Japan in the future.

For those of you who are considering inbound travel, keep an eye on the future trends!