The Japanese government has issued over 7.1 million visas in 2024, surpassing the visa numbers of 2023 by over 73 percent.
The news was shared by Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which also revealed that more visas were issued for many nationalities during this period, including Chinese, VisaGuide.World reports.
In addition, visa issuance recorded in 2024 has reached 90 percent of the highest record of visas ever issued by Japan, which was set back in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.
Chinese Were the Top Recipient Nationality of Japanese Visas Last Year
As the data show, Japan granted a total of 5.24 million visas to Chinese applicants, representing around 74 percent of the total visas granted to foreigners in 2024.
After the Chinese, Filipinos were granted over half a million visas by Japan – 570,000 in total, followed by the Vietnamese, who obtained 320,000 visas during this period. In total, Chinese, Filipinos, and Vietnamese were granted almost 90 percent of the visas issued for the whole year.
The interest in obtaining Japanese visas was also noticed in Indians, who were granted 40 percent more visas in 2024, compared to the previous year. Indians filed 180,000 applications, becoming the fourth nationality for visa applications in Japan, surpassing Indonesians.
Japan Welcomed Over 10 Million Tourists in Q1 2025
The numbers are likely to keep growing, as the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) has revealed that the number of visitors in the country has reached 10.5 million between January and March of 2025.
That is the highest record set for the number of arrivals registered on a quarterly basis. During the fourth quarter of 2024 (October to December), about 9.9 million tourists visited Japan.
The country of origin for most of the arrivals recorded in 2025 is South Korea, as over 2.5 million tourists from there visited Japan during this period. The second to follow is China with 2.3 million tourists and Taiwan with 1.6 million visitors.
Arrivals from the United States and Australia also stood out, especially those who came to Japan for winter sports such as skiing.
Visits to Japan are also impacted by the season, with spring being one of the most popular periods for travellers. In March alone, which marks the beginning of spring and cherry blossom season, about 60,000 people from Indonesia visited Japan, which overlaps with the holiday season after the end of Ramadan.