The US overtakes China as Japan's top-spending visitor nationality
Japan's April-June inbound spending reached a fresh high for the quarter even as visitor numbers fell, and the mix shifted more than the total: American visitors overtook Chinese as the biggest spenders after Chinese spending nearly halved, driven almost entirely by fewer visitors rather than thinner wallets.
Inbound visitors spent ¥2.51 trillion in Japan during April-June 2026, a fresh high for the quarter and the second-highest total the Japan Tourism Agency has recorded for any three-month period, even as the number of visitors fell, according to the agency's preliminary (1次速報) release published 15 July.
Total spending rose just 0.2% year on year, but per-visitor spending climbed to ¥244,457, up 3.3% and the highest quarterly figure since the agency began the current survey format in 2023. That came even as the number of visitors fell 5.3% to 10.401 million, the sharpest quarterly pullback in the series; the Japan National Tourism Organization separately reported June arrivals alone down 6.8% year on year, to 3,148,600.
China's spending nearly halves
The nationality rankings flipped as a result. China, which led all nationalities a year earlier at ¥506.4 billion, saw its total fall 48.8% to ¥259.2 billion — even though each Chinese visitor who did come spent 9.4% more per head than a year earlier. The decline was a story of fewer visitors, not thinner wallets: the number of Chinese visitors fell by roughly half, down 52.5%. The US took the top spot instead, spending ¥384.8 billion (+8.5%, a 15.3% share), ahead of Taiwan (¥363.9 billion, +27.9%) and just past South Korea (¥258.9 billion, +12.2%) and Hong Kong (¥145.2 billion, +7.8%), with China now essentially tied with South Korea for third place. The agency's release did not explain the drop in Chinese visitor numbers.
By spending category, accommodation remained the largest slice at 37.0% (¥927.8 billion), but its share slipped from a year earlier as shopping (26.8%, ¥673.1 billion), dining (21.7%) and entertainment/services (4.3%) each grew their share of the total, the agency said.
The mix shift matters more for Tokyo's flagship department stores than the total spending figure does. American and Taiwanese visitors, not Chinese group tourists, are increasingly the ones setting the pace of inbound demand, and the two groups tend to spend differently: less bulk buying, more on the kind of jewellery, watches and personal fashion that show up as tax-free sales on a flagship's upper floors. A shrinking visitor count that still delivers record-per-head spending is, for stores competing over this wallet, arguably the easier problem to manage than the reverse — the harder question is what happens if Chinese visitor numbers keep falling rather than merely pausing for a quarter.
¥100 million (oku yen)