The record breaking number of 54mil people! The number includes the tourists who went there on a day trip as well. That's a 1% increment compared to last year and it's the 3rd consecutive year of increase. Foreign tourists increased by 34%, while the increase was less than 1% for local tourists. Japan's decreasing population is the main factor for the disappointing figure.
The weakening yen and the loose visa policy are believed to have contributed to the increasing number of foreign tourists. Out of 54 mil tourists, 1.54 mil were from overseas and the rest were the local. How they categorized foreigners who reside in Japan and went to Hokkaido remains a question, although the number is insignificant.
The Chinese are the predominant visitors, which increased 2.1 fold (340k), way ahead of the runner-up, which are the Koreans (200k). South East Asians landed the third place slightly below 180k. American tourists increased 25% to 40k.
Sapporo, Noboribetsu, Hakodate, Kutchan, and Kamigawa are the top 5 places with the most stays by foreigners.
The administrative of Hokkaido expects the number of tourist to increase after the launch of the bullet train in March 2016, which connects the northern island with Honshu.
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