Japan finished the year on a high, welcoming just over 25 million visitors.
That is almost 80% of pre-Covid levels.
It saw 2.7 million tourists in December, which is significantly higher than in 2019.
Some of the country’s near neighbours have boosted their market share including top source market South Korea.
It sent almost seven million tourists.
That is up 25% on pre=pandemic.
Singaporeans increased 20% to 591,300.
The number of visitors from Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines all increased from 2019.
The main outlier is former no1 market China with just 2.4 million in 2023.
This is only a quarter of the 2019 level.
The Japan Tourism Agency reports foreign tourist spending in 2023 at 5.29 trillion yen ($35.7 billion), up 10% from four years ago.
