"Don't go to Japan": As Chinese tourists stay away, Japan's tourism industry takes a heavy hit

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[The Financial News] Tensions between China and Japan, triggered by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks suggesting possible intervention in the event of a Taiwan contingency, have dealt a severe blow to Japan’s tourism industry.
According to a recent report by Nihon Keizai Shimbun (The Nikkei), an analysis of the November 2025 balance of payments statistics from the Ministry of Finance Japan (MOF) showed that the travel balance surplus stood at 452.4 billion yen (about 4.2 trillion won).
This represents a 19% decrease from the same month a year earlier. The travel balance is calculated by subtracting Japanese residents’ overseas travel spending from the amount spent by visitors to Japan. Japan’s travel balance surplus has been shrinking for six consecutive months, and the pace of decline widened markedly compared with October, when it fell 12%.
The sharp drop in the travel balance is being attributed to tensions between China and Japan. After Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made remarks hinting at intervention in a Taiwan contingency last November, the Chinese government urged its citizens to refrain from traveling to Japan. Chinese airlines also simultaneously suspended or reduced flights to Japan, resulting in the number of Chinese visitors to Japan in November last year increasing by only 3%. Visitors from Hong Kong fell by 9%.
As a result, duty-free sales at major Japanese department stores in December last year declined compared with the same period a year earlier. JTB Corporation (JTB), a major Japanese travel agency, forecast that the total number of foreign visitors to Japan this year will fall by 3% as tourist arrivals from China and Hong Kong decrease.
In particular, China has also reinstated restrictions on imports of Japanese marine products and strengthened export controls on dual-use goods, including rare-earth elements (REE) that can be used for both military and civilian purposes, thereby ramping up pressure on Japan on multiple fronts.
gaa1003@fnnews.com Ahn Gaeul Reporter