Press Releases

1. The total number of visas issued at the diplomatic missions of Japan abroad in 2015 was 4,768,286, an increase of 66.0% from 2014, and recorded the largest number ever.

2. With a joint effort of the government and private sectors to promote Japan as a tourism-oriented country, such as relaxation of visa requirements, continuous inbound travel promotion, expansion of the consumption tax exemption program, expansion of LCC routes, and with weakening yen and other factors, the number of visitors exceeded 19,740,000, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO). Along with this, the total number of visas issued marked a record high.

3. When ranked by nationalities and regions, the top three recipients of Japanese visas were China, Philippines and Indonesia, which accounted for around 90 % of the total number of visas issued. Of the diplomatic missions of Japan abroad that issued visas,: Consulate-General of Japan in Shanghai, Embassy of Japan in China, Consulate-General of Japan in Guangzhou were top three issuing missions. 7 missions out of the top 10 are those in China.

4. The number of visas issued to Chinese nationals was 3,780,000, which accounts for around 80% of the total number of visas issued and exceeded the total number of visas issued to all nationals in 2014 (approximately 2,870,000). With regard to visas issued to Chinese tourists, the total number of “Group Sightseeing Visa”, “Individual Sightseeing Visa” and “Multiple-Entry Visa” for Okinawa or one of the three prefectures in Tohoku was 3,156,259, which marked a record high, and accounts for around 66.2% of the number of visas issued by Japan altogether.