The number of foreign visitors traveling to Japan hit 3.4 million in July, marking a new record for the month. This number is a 4.4% rise from last year, and the nation continues to be well on pace to see over 40 million visitors for the year.
The weak Japanese yen continues to be a driving force, sitting at a rate of 147.47 JPY to the dollar as of this morning, 25 August 2025. Although question marks around the US Federal Reserve, including the likely rate cut next month, could alter the direction of the Yen in the coming months for Americans, the currency continues to encourage foreign spending for now.
Although July was a record month for Japan, visitors from several countries in Asia saw decreases from the previous year. Travelers from South Korea decreased 10.4%, Hong Kong travelers decreased 36.9%, Singapore travelers decreased 13.6%, Thailand travelers decreased 9.1%, and travelers from the Philippines decreased 14.5%. The government cites fears from a fictional earthquake prediction by a manga artist to be the contributing factor in this decrease. The fictional work predicted a major earthquake to strike sometime in July.
However, travel from China (up 25.5% year-over-year), Europe, and the United States remained strong.
Meanwhile, the number of Japanese traveling overseas rose 14.9% year over year, with over 1.2 million travelers. International travel continues to come at a hefty cost amid the weak currency, but more and more Japanese residents are embarking overseas each month. A total of 7.8 million have left for foreign destinations so far this year, representing a 14.1% increase.
American Tourism to Japan Remains Strong
Despite a lot of talk about weakening international travel around the world so far this year, the US to Japan market has remained strong.
Compared to last year, the number of Americans entering Japan has grown every month so far this year. The peak was in April, where the 327,500 Americans represented a whopping 43.1% increase year over year. The spring cherry blossom season proved to be fuel, perhaps somewhat pointing to the influence that social media holds on Americans planning to fly to Japan. The monthly growth has somewhat diminished since, with July’s number representing just a 10.3% increase.
Still, a total of 2 million Americans have traveled to Japan so far this year, which is an increase of 24.1% from last year. Many Americans continue to look to hop on the Japan bandwagon and ride the weak Japanese Yen.
All photos by the author.
