As Beijing urges its citizens to steer clear of Japan, Russian travellers are stepping into the gap – a shift that reflects how sanctions on Moscow, Japan’s cautious diplomatic balancing and a weak yen are redrawing the region’s tourism map.
The Mainichi newspaper reported on Sunday that the Japanese embassy in Russia had opened two new visa application centres, in Moscow and St Petersburg, to cope with rising demand.
Officials said there were 53,327 visa applications from across Russia in 2019, the year before the global coronavirus pandemic and ahead of the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The number rose to 64,358 in 2024 before soaring last year to 133,000.
Preliminary figures from the Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO) show total visitor arrivals from Russia climbed to nearly 195,000 in 2025, a 96.3 per cent increase from 2024, while December arrivals rose 41.2 per cent to 8,300.
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Japan tourist arrivals break records despite drop in visitors from mainland China
Japan tourist arrivals break records despite drop in visitors from mainland China
Yakov Zinberg, a professor of international relations at Tokyo’s Kokushikan University who is originally from St Petersburg, suggested there should be little surprise at the sharp increase in applications to visit Japan.
AloJapan.com