If it felt like everyone you knew had been on holiday to Japan in 2024, it was because they probably had.
According to the country’s tourism agency, a record 36.9 million people travelled to Japan in 2024, up 47 per cent from the previous year, as the weak yen helped boost the Asian nation to the top of many bucket lists.
The 2024 figure surpasses the previous record of 31.9 million visitors in 2019, right before Covid hit, by 15.6 per cent.
“Right now, for sure, it’s our top destination,” says Catherine Heald, co-founder and CEO of New York-based travel agency Remote Lands, who said she had seen a 50 per cent increase in requests to visit the country in 2024, compared with 2019.
With the government strongly encouraging visitors to venture beyond the beaten-track destinations of Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, here are four alternative places in Japan to visit.