According to data released by Japan’s Foreign Ministry, despite record numbers of tourists coming to the Land of the Rising Sun, Japanese citizens are becoming less enthusiastic about travelling abroad, with only one in six holding a passport, Bloomberg reports
Japan’s passport allows its citizens to travel visa-free to 190 countries. However, the percentage of holders of this document is decreasing: from 24 percent in 2019 to 17 percent last year.
“A weak yen cutting into Japanese travellers’ ability to spend abroad, rising overseas prices and lower interest in international travel among younger generations appear to be factors for why passport ownership is declining in Japan, preventing a full rebound from pandemic-era lows. Ownership is also often far more common in other developed nations,” the publication reads.
The Japanese currency has lost about a third of its value since late 2019, mainly due to the large interest rate gap between Japan and the US. The number of citizens of the Land of the Rising Sun travelling abroad last year was still significantly lower than five years ago, in the pre-pandemic period.
“Japanese travellers have faced a hefty increase in cost in recent years if they want to go abroad for the summer, according to travel data provided by the Japan Tourism Agency. Last year travellers paid on average about 347,000 Yen ($2,303.9), while during the same summer months in 2019 they spent on average 277,000 Yen, reflecting a 25 percent jump,” Bloomberg noted.
