As China and Japan have been trading increasingly sharp remarks and escalating tensions following new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's suggestion of possible "Taiwan involvement," reports say trip cancellations to Japan are mounting in China. By contrast, Korea has overtaken Japan to become the most popular overseas destination for Chinese travelers, benefiting as a side effect of the China-Japan spat.
According to Chinese outlet The Paper on the 18th, numerous travel agencies in China have recently been hit by a wave of mass cancellations of group tours to Japan. Travelers have been requesting cancellations and refunds of their bookings. A representative at a Beijing-based travel agency told The Paper, "There weren't many cancellations even through the weekend, but in just one day the cancellations increased significantly," while a representative at a Shanghai agency said, "Sixty percent of group tour bookings to Japan have been canceled." Starting on the 14th, which was Friday last week, the Chinese government began responses tantamount to a full-fledged "Japan restriction order," including advising its citizens to refrain from traveling to Japan.
The sharp drop in demand for travel to Japan over the weekend appears to be shifting to Korea. According to data released on the 17th by Chinese travel platform Qunar, Korea was the most popular overseas destination among Chinese travelers over the weekend (the 15th–16th). Japan had been the top destination, but Korea overtook it. During this period, Korea-bound international air tickets ranked No. 1 in payments, and searches also put Korea (Seoul) at No. 1. Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Indonesia followed.
China and Japan have recently seen tensions intensify over Taiwan-related issues. The trigger was remarks by Prime Minister Takaichi. On the 7th, at a Budget Committee session of Japan's House of Representatives, Takaichi said, "If U.S. forces come to lift a maritime blockade, one can imagine a situation where (China) uses some kind of force to stop it. If force is used with warships, I believe it could be considered a situation that threatens the nation's survival." The comments were interpreted as a high-level attack directed at China.
The "situation that threatens the nation's survival" Takaichi mentioned refers to circumstances under which Japan can exercise its right of collective self-defense, which is the right for Japan to respond jointly if a country with which it has close ties is attacked. In other words, it formalized the possibility that if China tries to seize Taiwan by force and the United States, a Japanese ally, intervenes, Japan could use force to respond alongside the United States. This is the first time a sitting Japanese prime minister has characterized a "Taiwan contingency" as a situation that threatens the nation's survival.
In response, the Chinese government unleashed strong criticism and demanded a retraction. But with no specific action taken for more than a week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 14th advised Chinese citizens to refrain from traveling to Japan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, "Since the start of this year, crimes targeting Chinese people in Japan have continued, several cases remain unresolved, and recent Taiwan-related remarks by Japanese leaders have worsened the atmosphere for China-Japan exchanges and increased safety risks for Chinese nationals." On the 15th, major airlines including Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines, as well as Sichuan Airlines, XiamenAir, Hainan Airlines and Spring Airlines, successively announced free cancellation and change policies for tickets on Japan routes. On the 16th, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism also officially advised against travel to Japan.
That day, China's state media also signaled a break in cultural industry exchanges with Japan by formalizing a temporary halt to the release of Japanese films in China. China Central Television (CCTV) reported at midnight that "the screenings of imported Japanese films, including the theatrical 'Crayon Shin-chan: Ultra-luxurious! Blazing Kasukabe Dancers' and 'Cells at Work!,' will be suspended," adding, "According to confirmation with film importers and distributors, this adjustment is a prudent decision based on an evaluation of the overall market performance of imported Japanese films and audience sentiment."
Japan's Nikkei index, which at the end of last month had "topped 50,000 for the first time ever," has since plunged back below the 50,000 level. On the previous day, the first trading day after the weekend, leading Japanese cosmetics company Shiseido fell 11% in a single day, and Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings, Japan's largest department store operator, dropped 12%. It was the steepest decline since Apr. 7, and the market has yet to rebound today.
Chinese travelers make up Japan's largest group of inbound tourists, and concerns over the economic fallout from a sharp drop in Chinese visitors appear to be reflected. According to the Japan Tourism Agency, from January to September 2025, Chinese tourists accounted for roughly 25% of all visitors to Japan and spent about 1.6443 trillion yen (about 15.4 trillion won). Annualized, that comes to about 2 trillion yen (about 19 trillion won). That surpasses the previous annual peak of 1.7704 trillion yen (about 16.6 trillion won) in 2019.