TOKYO (ANN/THE JAPAN NEWS) – Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Tuesday instructed his Cabinet to finalise a national tourism plan for fiscal 2026-2030 by March next year.
The plan, called the “Tourism Nation Promotion Basic Plan,” aims to boost foreign visitors to Japan to 60 million and raise consumption to JPY15 trillion in 2030.
Ishiba gave the instructions at the Ministerial Council on the Promotion of Japan as a Tourism-Oriented Country, which was held at the Prime Minister’s Office on the day.
At the meeting, it was reported that approximately 37 million foreign tourists visited Japan last year, with total spending reaching around JPY8.1 trillion. Both figures are all-time highs.
Ishiba asked that efforts be made to improve the attractiveness of local regions in order to attract more visitors to those areas. He also called for the accelerated introduction of the Japanese version of ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization,) which will require visitors to report where they plan to stay in Japan before arriving in the country. He also called for efforts to prevent overtourism.
