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World’s ‘most favorite country’ receives 3.4 million foreign visitors in August

Sandy Verma | September 19, 2025 12:24 PM CST

By Hoang Phong &nbspSeptember 18, 2025 | 07:36 pm PT

Shoppers crowd at the Ameyoko shopping district, which is Tokyo’s biggest street food market, as they do their last-minute New Year’s shopping in Tokyo, Japan, Dec. 29, 2022. Photo by Reuters

Japan, voted as “world’s most favorite destination” last year by readers of Condé Nast Traveler, welcomed 3.4 million foreign visitors last month, up 16.9% year-on-year, driven by increased flights from Asian countries.

Mainland China topped the list with 1 million visitors, up 36.5%, followed by South Korea at 660,900, up 8%, according to data released by the Japan National Tourism Organization.

The number of tourists from Hong Kong and South Korea recovered after a drop in July on a rumor on social media that Japan would suffer a devastating earthquake, Japan Today reported.

Hong Kong logged an 8.3% decline in August, improving from a 36.9% plunge the previous month, the organization said.

In the first eight months of the year, Japan’s visitor arrivals soared 18.2% from a year earlier to 28.4 million.

If this momentum continues, Japan’s annual inbound visitors in 2025 are expected to surpass 40 million.

The Asian country recorded more than 36.8 million visitors last year, a record high.