Japanese tourism to China has plummeted by as much as 90% following a sharp deterioration in Sino-Japanese relations triggered by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks about a potential “Taiwan contingency.” The fallout has unleashed a triple blow on the travel industry: a dramatic reduction in flights, a sharp cooling of travel demand, and rising fuel costs driven by instability in the Middle East.
According to a report by Kyodo News, approximately 2,691 flights from China to Japan were cancelled in March alone, representing a cancellation rate of around 50 percent. One major Japanese travel agency reported that tour group cancellations to Shanghai surged to 50 percent after Takaichi’s comments in November last year, with the number of Japanese visitors to Shanghai falling 70 percent year-on-year by late last year.
Safety concerns have compounded the diplomatic chill. The 2024 stabbing attack on a school bus carrying students at a Japanese school in Suzhou, and the death of a Japanese schoolboy near a Japanese school in Shenzhen, have made many Japanese travelers wary of visiting China. The Chinese government also urged its citizens to avoid traveling to Japan in response to Takaichi’s statements, further straining bilateral tourism flows.
The collapse in visitor numbers has devastated Chinese tour guides who specialize in Japanese-speaking tourists. A guide in Xi’an with nearly 30 years of experience said he has not received a single Japanese client this year, while a Beijing-based guide reported that his income has fallen by 90 percent since March.
Industry insiders are pessimistic about a near-term recovery. Japan was once one of China’s top sources of inbound tourists, but experts warn that “as long as China-Japan relations do not improve and flight numbers do not increase, the Japanese tourism market to China will be difficult to recover in the short term.”
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), May 1, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202605010096.aspx