Visit Japan Campaign

Inbound Travel Promotion Project (Visit Japan Campaign)

In terms of the program to attract 30 million international visitors to Japan, we are working to achieve the Phase 1 goal (15 million visitors by 2013) through focused communication of our tourism attractions in priority markets, as well as a joint public-private sector push for inbound travel promotion projects that support, among others, the creation of attractive Japanese travel products.

What is the Visit Japan Campaign?

The public and the private sectors are working together to promote the Visit Japan Campaign, which publicizes Japan’s tourism appeals abroad while developing and supporting attractive tourism products to Japan toward the goal of attracting 10 million overseas visitors to Japan in 2010.

The Visit Japan Campaign Headquarters is established in the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO). Please visit the official Visit Japan Campaign Headquarters website at http://www.visitjapan.jp/. The website is also a good source of Japanese tourism information.

The Purpose of the Visit Japan Campaign

The Visit Japan Campaign was launched to “achieve the goal of 10 million overseas visitors to Japan in 2010” laid out by the then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in his January 2003 policy speech.

Japan’s tourism appeal is a soft power that can inspire empathy in foreign nationals. It contributes to mutual international understanding through one-on-one exchange, and in this age of shrinking national population, the arrival of international visitors can result in regional revitalization and business expansion. For these reasons, the public and the private sectors are working as one, with the Japan Tourism Agency coordinating the effort.

The Visit Japan Campaign’s Activities

We are conducting promotional activities targeting the 12 nations and regions (Korea, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, U.S.A., Canada, U.K., Germany, France and Australia) that send a large number of visitors to Japan, designating them as priority markets. In addition, three nations (India, Russia and Malaysia) were designated as promising emerging markets in 2007, and targeted for market research.

We are also working to increase satisfaction among overseas visitors and encourage repeat visits, under the Visit Japan Upgrade Project starting in 2008. In addition to promoting even greater understanding of Japan’s many appeals, the effort will also work towards greater convenience for travelers such as IC card standardization and compatibility. For more details about the project, please visit the official Visit Japan Campaign Headquarters website.

Expediting and Streamlining Visa and Immigration Procedures

We are working with all the ministries and agencies involved to promote faster and smoother issuance of visas while mindful of the necessary balance between tourism exchange expansion and immigration policies; and immigration procedures processing, with the goal of reducing the maximum wait time in the immigration check at all airports to less than 20 minutes.