Nearly 1 million Australians visited Japan last year, marking a 50 per cent increase in visitor numbers, as the country records a bumper year in tourism.
Japan recorded 36.87 million visitors throughout 2024, exceeding the previous 12-month high set in 2019 of 31.9 million.
Australians wracked up 920,200 visits last year compared with 613,062 in 2023.
Australian National University's Australia-Japanese Research Centre director Dr Shiro Armstrong said Australia punched above its weight when it came to Japanese tourism.
"The 50 per cent increase in Australian tourists to Japan from 2023 to 2024 to 920,200 is remarkable," he said.
"You hear lots of Australian accents in Tokyo and many bars and restaurants are getting used to serving Australians.
"Eating out is very affordable compared to Australia because of the low wage costs — Japan has only recently escaped decades of mild deflation so prices have barely changed since 1990 when Japan's big asset bubble burst and brought an end to the high growth era — and the food, as everyone knows, is amazing.
"The tourist flows used to be dominated by Japanese visitors to Australia but with Japanese economic stagnation and the weak yen, we've seen a reversal since before COVID-19 that's only becoming more pronounced."
Dr Armstrong, who is currently holidaying in Japan himself, said he had been struck by the number of Australians he had seen on his travels.
"I've just spent three days snowboarding and you constantly hear Aussie accents, including many of the ski school instructors," he said.
"Flights between Australia and Japan are full and expensive this time of year."
[datawrapper growth rate]TokudAw travel agency managing director Wanping Aw said winter guests were venturing to Japan's lesser-known ski destinations compared to previous years.
"We are seeing a lot of guests from Australia," he said.
"They have told us that coming to Japan is like the new Bali to them."
[country dw]Japanese authorities have previously warned of “over-tourism” — that is, when so many visitors are attracted to an area that life becomes unpleasant for the locals, despite any economic or other ostensible benefits.
Mr Aw said the weak yen was partly responsible for attracting thousands of visitors to the country.
The current exchange rate was one Australian dollar for about 97 yen.
The Japan National Tourism Organization said tourism spending was now Japan's second biggest export sector after autos, and ahead of electronic components.
Dr Armstrong said he also believed the weak yen was a strong factor in Japan's tourism boom.
"For over a decade there's been an effort to attract more foreign tourists with signs in multiple languages, increased use of credit cards — not just cash — and improved accessibility," he said.
"The weak yen is mostly due to the central bank here, the Bank of Japan, having lower interest rates than other advanced economies as it didn't experience high inflation coming out of COVID, so many investors could get better returns abroad and there was less demand for yen."
Visitors spent about $83 billion AUD in 2024 according to preliminary figures released by the organisation, more than double the prior year.
Travel industry consultant Teppei Kawanishi said the spending was encouraging to see.
"The fact that not just the number of visitors is increasing, but also the amount of money they spend is a positive thing," he said.
The month of December also recorded an all-time high for any month, of 3.49 million visitors.
The JNTO said the December figures were boosted by school holidays and holiday-related demand from many markets.
with Reuters
