In January 2025, Nippon published findings from the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) revealing that Japan welcomed about 37 million international visitors in 2024, the highest it had ever received, even before the pandemic. While it’s still behind tourism giants like France and Spain, those are high numbers, and demand often affects hotel prices, plane tickets, and of course, how long the queues in major city hotspots are.
Japan may not be as pricey as Singapore or Scandinavian countries, but it’s far less affordable than other East Asian destinations. So, if you’re on a tight vacation budget and worry about getting into debt on your travels, your precious dollars could stretch further in a similar East Asian location, like…