Japan Bound

Bounce has started a new service to deliver travelers’ luggages from Haneda Airport, Centrair AIrport, Fukuoka Airport and Naha Airport to about 3,000 Yamato Transport branch offices nationwide.

A new ‘Purple Line’ of the double-deck ‘Sky Hop Bus Kyoto’ was opened in Kyoto City, connecting tourist destinations of Arashiyama, Kinkakuji Temple, Daitokuji Temple and Nijo Castle.

Supposing the fee will be around 23,000 yen based on the average of the visa fee of six G7 counties, Nomura Securities has estimated that the annual number of international visitors to Japan may reduce by 1.7%, and spending per traveler by 2.0%.

The number of international arrivals in Japan in October 2025 was up 17.6% year on year to 3,896,300, record-braking for October with 580,000 more arrivals than a year ago.

The World’s Best New Hotel of ‘World Ski Award 2025’ was won by Nikko Style Niseko HANAZONO in Hokkaido, Japan. For the ski industry in Japan, winners are Rusutsu Resort for the Japan’s Best Ski Resort.

Agoda formed a strategic partnership with Hoshino Resorts to enable a user to book all of the Hoshino Resorts to send foreign travelers to local areas in Japan.

International tourism award ‘TOURISE Award 2025' was announced. The first Best Overall Destination winner was Tokyo, highly valued as the city experience combined innovations and diversities.

According to Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection (BHTP)'s the safest country to travel 2026, Japan is ranked 9th and selected as one of Hall of Fame countries that have averaged a top-10 position since 2018.

UnionPay, the Chinese digital wallet, has started issuing an exclusive card for travelers to Kansai area in Japan to stimulate Chinese travers’ shopping minds.

Luggage storage provider Bounce has launched a luggage delivery service between Yamato Transport’s 3000 bases nationwide in Japan, allowing allows a traveler to deliver luggage between the Yamato’s offices or check-in counters.

JTB and JR Tokai, a Japan’s railway company, has launched luggage delivery service ‘LUGGAGE EXPRESS’ between Tokyo and Kyoto with Shinkansen. A traveler receives it at a hotel on the day.

Kyoto City and DMO KYOTO send messages of tourism manners to foreign visitors in the busiest autumn leaves season in partnership with Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO).

Tobu Top Tours, a Japanese travel agent, has started selling helicopter sightseeing tours looking down autumn leaves from the sky to enjoy autumn leaves comfortably avoiding traffic jam.

Cross-boarder EC payment service ‘Alipay+’ increased payment volume in Japan for the first nine months of 2025 by 30% year on year, growing payments in medical services, cosmetics, vending machines and entertainments.

The highest growth rate in international visitors to Japan was seen in Sakaiminato City, Tottori Prefecture, in the summer of 2025, showing 2.83 times more visitors than compared to a year earlier.

Spending by international visitors for the third quarter of 2025 (July to September) increased by 11.1% year on year to 2.1 trillion yen. China topped the list with 590 billion yen (27.7% of total),

The number of international arrivals in Japan in September 2025 was up 13.7% year on year to 3,266,800, totaling 31.7 million arrivals for the first nine months.

Bounce Japan and NAVITIME Japan started the system linkage between Bounce Japan’s ‘Bounce' and NAVITIME’s ‘Japan Travel by NAVITIME' to help international visitors find baggage storage spots on their traveling routes.

The average occupancy rate of 113 hotels in Kyoto City was 76.8% in August 2025, and ADR was down 6.7% to 16,863 yen. DMO KYOTO has forecasted that the occupancy rates are expected to be 86.2% in October.

JTB has launched a new sharing service ‘Baggage GO’ to match a traveler who wants to deliver baggage in a tourist destination with a driver who wants to take it on a system.