Photo/Illutration Foreign tourists cross the Togetsukyo bridge in Kyoto's Arashiyama district. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Greatly aided by the weak yen, tourists from abroad spent more than 5 trillion yen ($33.8 billion) in Japan in 2023, according to statistics released by the Japan Tourism Agency on Jan. 17.

The government only set in March 2023 the goal of having foreign tourists spend 5 trillion yen in the nation over a year as part of its basic plan to promote Japan as a tourism nation.

More precisely, tourists from other countries ended up spending 5.2923 trillion yen in 2023, exceeding the 4.8135 trillion yen paid out in 2019 before the novel coronavirus pandemic.

There were 25,066,100 foreign tourists in 2023, or only 78.6 percent of the number in 2019, but the weak yen ballooned the amount they spent.

South Korea had the most nationals visiting Japan in 2023 at 6,958,500, which was a 24.6-percent increase over 2019, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization. There were 4,202,400 visitors from Taiwan, a 14.1 percent decrease over 2019.

But China, which until the COVID-19 health scare made up about 30 percent of all foreign travelers to Japan, only had 2,425,000 tourists in 2023, a decrease of 74.7 percent compared to 2019.

Foreign tourist numbers greatly increased after the government relaxed entry restrictions in October 2022 and downgraded COVID-19 as an infectious disease in May 2023.

While the total number of tourists from abroad in 2023 did not reach pre-COVID-19 levels, there were some months in which foreign tourist figures matched those set before the health scare.

The average amount a tourist from another country spent in Japan was 212,000 yen, or 53,000 yen more than in 2019. The weak yen led to greater spending on hotels and leisure activities as well as longer stays in Japan.

Foreign tourists spent a combined 1.8289 trillion yen on accommodations, which made up 34.6 percent of total spending. They spent another 1.3954 trillion yen on shopping, 1.1957 trillion yen on food and drinks and 602.4 billion yen on transportation.

While tourists from abroad spent the most money on shopping in 2019, fewer Chinese tourists, known for going on mega-buying sprees, led to the consumption patterns of foreign tourists changing.

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