TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Nearly one million Taiwanese tourists visited Japan in January and February, surpassing Chinese tourists, per CNA.

According to statistics released by the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) on Tuesday (March 19), the total number of tourists that visited Japan in January and February reached 5,476,100. South Koreans ranked first with 1,675,500 visitors, a 12.1% growth from the 1,495,187 compared to the same period in 2019.

Taiwanese tourists ranked second, growing 26.3% from 787,327 in 2019 to 994,500 in 2024. Chinese tourists ranked third at 875,300 in 2024, a 40.8% decrease from 1,478,038 in 2019.

Asahi Shimbun said that during the Lunar New Year period, the sales of tour groups visiting Japan at one Shanghai office of a Chinese travel agency did not even reach half of their target by mid-January, CNA reported. “I have never seen such poor performance,” the director of the travel agency said.

JNTO Director Ryoko Hasegawa said, compared to February overall, when the number of foreign visitors to Japan exceeded that of February 2019 by 7.1%, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Japan decreased by 36.5% compared to February 2019.

The JNTO said the change may be affected by the strong earthquake in Ishikawa Prefecture on New Year’s Day. In addition, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore have implemented visa-free measures for Chinese citizens staying for short periods, so Chinese tourists have switched to these countries for travel, the organization said.