Taiwan overtakes China as top consumer of inbound tourism in Japan

According to preliminary data from the Japan Tourism Agency for the July–September 2026 period, inbound tourism spending in Japan rose 3.2% year-on-year to 2.2076 trillion yen. For the first time, Taiwan has surpassed China as the leading source of tourism spending, contributing 381.8 billion yen (a 26.2% increase) compared to China's 358.3 billion yen (a 39.8% decrease).

While Taiwan leads in total spending, Chinese travelers still maintain the highest individual shopping expenditure, averaging 117,662 yen per person. Overall shopping costs accounted for 610.9 billion yen, representing 27.7% of total consumption.

Other significant contributors included South Korea, which saw a 45.8% increase in spending to 293.8 billion yen, moving into third place, followed by the United States and Hong Kong. Although the total number of inbound travelers decreased by 4.8% year-on-year, the average spending per traveler increased by 6.1%.