TOKYO — The ongoing diplomatic rift between Japan and China has had a muted impact on overall tourist numbers as visitors to Japan grew 10.4 per cent year-on-year in November, the country's tourism board said on Wednesday (Dec 17).

Arrivals from overseas for business and leisure over the month stood at 3.52 million, pushing the total for 2025 above 39 million, the Japan National Tourism Organisation said.

The figures to the end of November 2025 already exceed the record annual total of 36.87 million people logged in 2024.

Growth in visitors from mainland China slowed to three per cent in November, far below the 37.5 per cent growth across the whole year to the end of November 2025 compared to the same period the previous year.

A diplomatic dispute following Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks about Taiwan, the democratically governed island claimed by China, prompted China to urge its citizens not to travel to Japan in mid-November.

Chinese airlines offered free refunds for flights up to the end of the year. Tourism-related Japanese stocks such as department store operator Isetan Mitsukoshi and Tokyo Disneyland operator Oriental Land were battered in the immediate aftermath of the travel warning and have yet to recover.

Mainland Chinese tourists have nevertheless made up the largest cohort of visitors to Japan so far in 2025, accounting for nearly a quarter of the total.