Tourists take photos with a panda mascot at a Spring Festival event on February 13 at the fountain plaza in Ueno Park, Tokyo.
In China, the long Spring Festival (Lunar New Year) holiday began on February 15. The number of Chinese visitors to Japan has declined after the Chinese government urged its citizens not to travel to Japan, following Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks in the Diet regarding a potential Taiwan contingency.
However, Japan remains popular among independent Chinese travelers. Within the tourism industry, efforts are also underway to soften the impact by expanding efforts to attract visitors from countries and regions other than China.
Celebrations Continue Without Pandas
In January, twin pandas were returned from Ueno Zoo in Tokyo to China. Even so, a Spring Festival celebration was held from February 13 to 15 in the adjacent plaza. The venue was lined with stalls selling casual Chinese food, and panda plush toys and photo books were also on sale, drawing long lines of visitors.
Now in its fourth year, the event was organized after China Television, an affiliate of China Central Television, called on local shopping associations to take part.
The president of China Television said, "Japan–China relations have worsened and the pandas are gone, but ordinary people of Chinese origin living in Japan still hope to maintain friendly ties."
Spring Festival events are also being held in Yokohama and Kobe, both home to Chinatowns, as well as at some department stores.
Inbound Decline in December
Despite the continued atmosphere of goodwill, the number of Chinese visitors to Japan has been declining. According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, the number of Chinese visitors in December 2025 fell by about 45% from a year earlier to approximately 330,000. A similar trend has continued into the new year.
The decline has affected the department store industry as well. According to the Japan Department Stores Association, both the number of Chinese customers and their sales at department stores nationwide fell by about 40% in December. Total duty-free sales dropped 17.1% to ¥51.9 billion JPY (around $334 million USD).
At Mt Rokko Snow Park in Kobe, which is also popular for leisure activities other than skiing, total inbound visitors in January numbered about 5,400. This is roughly 3,000 fewer than in the same month in 2025. Of that decline, about 500 were Chinese visitors. The operator said that because the timing of the Spring Festival differed from 2025, a simple comparison is difficult, but added that the drop in group tours has had an impact.
Because group tours are arranged by travel agencies, they are more likely to be canceled in response to government policy. As a result, attracting independent travelers has become a key focus for Japan's tourism industry.
Independent Travelers
According to the Japan Tourism Agency's survey on inbound consumption trends, independent travelers accounted for 84.4% of Chinese visitors in the July–September 2025 period, before the prime minister's remarks. This was up from 72.9% in 2019, making independent travelers the vast majority.
Advertising company Intersect Communications conducted a survey using the polling function on the Chinese social media platform WeChat. Among 2,869 respondents planning to travel overseas during the Spring Festival, 429 said they intended to visit Japan.
Of those respondents, 60% said they did not feel any hesitation. The company believes many of these travelers are repeat visitors or independent travelers staying with acquaintances in Japan.
Broadening the Inbound Market
At Fujita Kanko, which operates Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo and other properties, the share of Chinese guests, including those from Hong Kong, fell 2.9 percentage points year on year in 2025 to 21.1%. Despite this, total inbound guests at the company's hotels rose 9.8% to 2.446 million.
By strengthening sales efforts in Europe, the United States, and Australia, where visitors tend to stay longer, the company achieved higher revenue and profit for the full fiscal year.
The Japan Tourism Agency said it is beginning to see cases where cancellations by Chinese visitors are being offset by travelers from other countries. To make tourism more sustainable, the agency said it plans to further promote inbound travel from countries other than China.
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Authors: Atsushi Oda, The Sankei Shimbun
