Tourism arrivals are growing faster than many people have expected. Not here in Hawaiʻi — but in Japan.
A weaker yen has not helped Hawaiʻi businesses when it comes to attracting Japanese visitors.
But the same dynamic that makes Hawaiʻi more expensive for Japanese tourists is making Japan cheaper for visitors from just about anywhere else.
Currency levels are one factor pushing visitor arrival numbers to their highest level in Japan since before the pandemic.
In June, more than 2 million overseas travelers came to Japan — the highest monthly number since February 2020.
The Japan National Tourist Organization said nearly 11 million international visitors came to the country in the first six months of this year.
That's still down about a third from levels before the pandemic, but the numbers are rising.
Government figures show inbound travelers are outpacing 2019 figures when it comes to visitors from the United States, Europe, Australia and the Middle East.
Just this week, Haneda Airport's Terminal 2 for international flights opened for the first time in more than three years.
So far this year, the most visitors are coming from South Korea, with Taiwan ranking number two, and Hong Kong number three.
The major exception to this trend of increased travel is the market that used to be the biggest one for visitors to Japan: China.
