From travel warnings to visa fees: why Chinese tourism to Japan is in free fall

Mainland Chinese tourist arrivals in Japan fell for an eighth consecutive month in July, as group tours slumped and visa costs rose amid deteriorating ties between Beijing and Tokyo.Mainland China has traditionally been a major source of visitors for Japan, but tourist arrivals plunged 56.1 per cent year on year in July, extending a downward trend that began in December 2025, according to data released by the Japan-national-tourism-organisation" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="14815" data-entity-type="organization">Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO) on Wednesday.Overall foreign arrivals to Japan edged up 0.1 per cent – the first increase in four months – supported mainly by strong demand from South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and the Middle East. For the first seven months of the year, mainland Chinese visitors plummeted 56.3 per cent year on year, while total foreign arrivals fell 1.7 per cent, JNTO figures showed.