Japan's tourist arrivals at record high, recovering from pandemic drop

Half-year total reaches 17 million, driven by visitors from South Korea and China

Tourists watch Yamahoko, the float parade of Kyoto's Gion Festival, on July 17. (Photo by Atsushi Ooka)

NANCY ZHENG, Nikkei staff writer

July 19, 2024 14:15 JST

Updated on July 19, 2024 21:20 JST

TOKYO -- Japan received 17.7 million tourists in the first half of 2024, indicating that its inbound tourism has made a complete recovery to pre-pandemic levels.

According to data from the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) released on Friday, visitor arrivals from January to June increased by 65.9% over the 10.7 million visitors in the same period last year and 6.9% over the level in 2019.