One country’s travelers spend more than double the total average for tourists in Japan, and it’s one the Japanese tourism industry hasn’t paid much attention to.

Recent statistics show that during the first half of 2026 Japan had its first dip in the number of foreign tourists visiting the country since five years ago. Some might call that a sign that the Japan travel boom has peaked, but the number of travelers only paints half the picture, and the amount of money foreign tourists are spending in Japan continues to grow.

The Japan Tourism Agency, part of the Japanese government’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, has released the results of its periodic Survey on Inbound Tourism Spending Trends, looking at data from April to June of this year (April being the start of the business year in Japan). During that time, the agency says that overseas travelers in Japan spent a total of roughly 2.5096 trillion yen (US$14.49 billion), a 0.2 percent increase compared to the same period in 2025.

Granted, that’s not a very big increase, but it’s still impressive that total spending went up even as spending by travelers from China, for decades one of the largest financial contributors to the tourism industry in Japan, cratered. Spending from 10 countries examined in the study increased by double-digit percentages, with the U.S. finishing at the top of the spending list and Taiwan leapfrogging China on its way to second place.

Spending by foreign travelers in Japan by home country (April-June 2026)
1. U.S.A.: 384.8 billion yen (8.5 percent increase compared to same period last year)
2. Taiwan: 363.9 billion yen (27.9 percent increase)
3. China: 259.2 billion yen (48.8 percent decrease)
4. Korea: 248.9 billion yen (12.2 percent increase)
5. Hong Kong: 145.2 billion yen (7.8 percent increase)
6. Australia: 105.9 billion yen (5.9 percent increase)
7. Thailand: 71.8 billion yen (0.3 percent increase)
8. U.K.: 68.7 billion yen (0.4 percent increase)
9. Canada: 68.1 billion yen (10.4 percent increase)
10. Singapore: 60 billion yen (20.1 percent increase)

Outside of the top 10, there were surges in spending by travelers from France (57.4 billion yen, up 21.6 percent), the Philippines (45.1 billion yen, up 13.3 percent), Indonesia (42.2 billion yen, up 40.3 percent), India (40.7 billion yen, up 43.8 percent), Malaysia (39.4 billion yen, up 39.8 percent), and Russia (27.5 billion yen, up 62.3 percent).

As for how foreign travelers are spending their money in Japan, hotel expenditures remain the biggest category, accounting for 37 percent of the total, though that’s actually down a bit compared to last year, with upticks seen for spending on shopping and dining.

Spending by foreign travelers in Japan by category (April-June 2026)
● Hotels
2026: 927.8 billion yen (37 percent of total foreign traveler spending)
2025: 963.6 billion yen (38.5 percent of total)
● Shopping
2026: 673.1 billion yen (26.8 percent of total)
2025: 654.7 billion yen (26.1 percent of total)
● Food/beverages
2026: 545.4 billion yen (21.7 percent of total)
2025: 525.7 billion yen (21 percent of total)
● Inside-Japan transportation
2026: 252.7 billion yen (10.1 percent of total)
2025: 254.3 billion yen (10.2 percent of total)
● Entertainment services
2026: 108.8 billion yen (4.3 percent of total)
2025: 103.2 billion yen (4.1 percent of total)

But the biggest surprise of the survey involves which countries’ travelers, on a per-person basis, are spending the most while they’re in Japan. Across all nations, the statistically average foreign traveler in Japan spent 244,457 yen during their stay in Japan. The figures tend to be a little higher for North American and European travelers, who, given the time investment required for them to travel to Japan, tend to stay longer, and lower for Japan’s closer Asian neighbors.

Average per-person tourist spending in Japan by home country
● U.K.: 456,493 yen
● Australia: 426,949 yen
● U.S.A.: 378,547 yen
● Canada: 371,388 yen
● Singapore: 289,923 yen
● China: 266,753 yen
● Hong Kong: 225,117 yen
● Taiwan: 196.641 yen
● Korea: 99,542

However, the country with the highest per-person spending in Japan, is none other than..

…Mexico. Mexican travelers in Japan spent an average of 514,925 yen, more than double the total average for all visitors. Mexico was also the only country to cross the 500,000 yen threshold, with the next closest being an aggregate of travelers from the Middle East who spent an average of 482,836 yen.

Mexico’s strong spending wasn’t the result of a select few captains of the nation’s industry visiting Japan on lavish corporate-funded business travel, either. When the Japan Tourism Agency crunched the numbers to isolate spending specifically by leisure travelers in Japan, Mexico still had the highest per-person spending, at 511,867 yen per person (once again followed by the Middle East with 508,394 yen).

So does this mean we’re going to see the Japanese tourism industry rush to cater to Mexican travelers with increased Spanish signage and a prevalence of custom-designed tour packages, similar to when it became clear a few decades ago that there was huge potential in courting Chinese travelers? It’s probably a little too soon for that. Despite the eye-popping per-person figure, total spending by Mexican travelers in the first quarter of this year only came to 27.9 billion yen, one of the lowest totals out of the 25 countries/regions in the study. As a matter of fact, noticeable Mexican tourism spending is such a new development in Japan that Japan Tourism Agency didn’t collect data for travelers from the country specifically in its 2025 study. Still, it’s now clear that there are deep-pocketed Mexican travelers interested in coming to visit, showing once again that no country on the planet is getting as much tourism attention as Japan these days.

Source: Japan Tourism Agency via FNN Prime Online
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert images: Pakutaso, Wikipedia/Giga Bang
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