Japanese travellers to China drastically decrease amid diplomatic row

TOKYO – The number of Japanese travellers to China has drastically decreased after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s November remarks on how Japan might respond to a Taiwan emergency caused relations between the two countries to deteriorate, according to tourism industry officials.

Combined with the recent drop in Chinese travellers to Japan, the travel industry, which has served as a bridge between the two countries even in times of heightened diplomatic friction, has suffered a double blow.

“Japanese travel fell 90 per cent as a result of a rapid rise in booking cancellations and flight reductions,” one travel agency official said.

Fuel surcharges by airlines following the conflict in the Middle East are now causing a “triple punch” for the industry, along with a shortage of seats due to flight cuts and a decline in interest in travel to China, the official added.

The deterioration in relations between the two countries came after the number of Chinese travellers to Japan recovered in 2025 to about half of its 2019 level, the official said.

According to another official at a travel agency in Shanghai who handles Japanese travellers, half of the Japanese group tours to the city have been cancelled since November, with the official saying there were safety concerns.

In some cases, tours were called off due to sudden flight cancellations, the official said.

Since Ms Takaichi’s remarks in Parliament in November suggesting Japan could respond in support of the US if Taiwan is attacked, China has implemented trade restrictions and urged its citizens to refrain from travelling to Japan. Taiwan is a self-ruled democratic island that Beijing views as its own territory.

Consequently, Chinese airlines announced a series of flight cancellations to Japan.

Japanese-speaking tour guides are facing lower income and the risk of unemployment in tourist destinations such as Shaanxi province, home to the Terracotta Army, a UNESCO World Heritage site, where all direct flights from Japan have been cancelled.

“I haven’t given a tour to a single Japanese tourist this year,” said a Chinese man who has worked as a Japanese-language guide for around 30 years.

The 57-year-old guide added that a Japanese high school trip scheduled for April was also cancelled.

Another guide in Beijing said there have been hardly any Japanese tourists since March and that his income has decreased by 90 per cent.

With many Japanese-speaking guides having left the industry since the Covid-19 pandemic and demand for them drying up due to recent friction, he said that “new Japanese-speaking guides will not be able to receive proper training” unless Japanese travellers increase and create jobs again.

“This will make it difficult in future to arrange group tours with local guides.” KYODO NEWS