Korean reports: Record number of visitors to Japan for cherry blossom viewing in April

Last month, the number of foreign tourists visiting Japan hit a new record high. This is likely due to the influx of foreign tourists wanting to experience the cherry blossom season. For the first time, the number of Chinese tourists surpassed the number of Korean tourists.
On the 21st, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) announced that the number of foreign tourists visiting Japan in April was 3,908,900. This is up from the same month last year (3,040,000).
This is a 28.5% increase from the previous record of 3,003 people, making it the highest number of visitors in a single month. The recovery of Chinese tourists is particularly notable.
As a result, there was a large increase in visitors from the United States, Europe, Australia, and other countries. In terms of the number of visitors by nationality in April, China was the largest with 765,100 visitors, followed by South Korea (721,000).
China (537,600), Taiwan (537,600), and the United States (327,500). China saw a 43.4% increase compared to the same month last year, and the United States also saw a 43.1% increase.
From January to March, South Korea had the most visitors, but in April, it lost its position to China for the first time. Due to the recovery in Chinese tourists, the number of visitors in April was the highest ever.
This surpassed the previous record of 3.78 million in January, which was the highest ever recorded. In February and March, the number of visitors reached 3.26 million and 3.49 million, respectively.
The total number of visitors from January to April was 14,446,600, and if the current trend continues, it is expected that the number will exceed 40 million for the year.
The total number of visitors in the first quarter (January to March) was 10.54 million, up 23.1% from the same period last year. In particular, the number of Chinese visitors in January and February was 1.703 million, nearly double the number from the previous year.
The number of tourists visiting Japan in the first quarter as a whole was 2.36 million, an 80% increase from the previous year. The increase in the number of tourists visiting Japan is due to a combination of factors, including the weak yen, an increase in air travel, cherry blossom season, and a recovery in global travel demand.
However, despite the sharp increase in the number of tourists visiting Japan, Nikkei pointed out that there are changes in consumption patterns, such as a slowdown in purchases of high-priced items at some department stores.
The Japanese government aims to attract 60 million visitors a year by 2030, and has emphasized the importance of dispersal measures to eliminate tourist concentration.