Japan has received over 200,000 Indian visitors in a year for the first time ever as the number of Indian travellers to Japan in the period from January 1-November 30 stood at 216,000, the highest-ever.

According to data released by Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO), the Indian market for Japan has grown by 41.3 pc so far this year and the pace of growth is not showing any signs of relenting as November itself recorded a year-on-year growth of 42 pc, with 23,500 Indian visitors landing in Japan in November 2024, as against 16,500 last November.

While this year, the total number of visitors from India stands at 216,000, the country had received a relatively modest 152,879 Indian travellers in the first 11 months of 2023.

It is not just Indians tourists who have latched on to Japan as the country registered a 49.5 pc rise in its total foreign tourist arrivals that stood at 33.38 million visitors in the period January-November 2024, up from 22.33 million overseas visitors in the same period last year.

With 7.95 million arrivals so far this year, South Korea remains the largest source market for Japan, but by far the fastest growing market remains China, which jumped from 2.11 million in the first 11 months of last year to 6.38 million this year, a growth of almost 202 pc.

The third largest market for Japan remains Taiwan which grew by 46 pc in the first 11 months to 5.55 million as against 3.8 million in the same period last year.

The next largest source market for Japan is the United States with 2.49 million visitors in the first 11 months of this year, a growth of 33.5 pc compared to 1.86 million last year.

Hong Kong is the fifth largest market, accounting for almost 2.4 million visitors in the period January-November 2024 as compared to 1.86 million visitors last year, a growth of 28.7 pc.