BEIJING, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- "Summer rain on the wall traces of torn poem cards" -- When Chinese traveler "Hikari" visited the Rakushisha in Kyoto, Japan, she could not help thinking of the poem written by Basho, a 17th-century Japanese haiku master, during his stay there.
Located in western Kyoto, the thatched retreat is not on any typical must-visit lists for tourists in Kyoto. But for fans of haiku poetry, the site -- also known as the "Hut of Fallen Persimmons" -- is a hidden gem as it was once the residence of one of Basho's most famous disciples, and also accommodated the master himself for a time, during which he wrote the famous haiku.
OFF THE BEATEN PATH
Japan has long been one of the most popular overseas destinations for Chinese tourists. While tourist attractions such as Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, and traditional Japanese food like sushi served with wasabi maintain their lure among Chinese tourists, travel behaviors and preferences have been gradually changing over recent years.
During China's weeklong National Day holiday last year, the leading travel service provider Trip.com Group identified a growing preference for off-the-beaten-path routes among Chinese visitors, reporting triple-digit growth in Chinese tourist bookings for less crowded destinations such as Yokohama, Takayama and Ito.
And as this year's Spring Festival approaches -- set to start later this month with a total of eight public-holiday days -- increasing numbers are eyeing even more niche Japanese destinations.
If you have visited popular Chinese social network and lifestyle-sharing platform Xiaohongshu, or "rednote," you may have come across posts published by travelers talking about using the long Spring Festival holiday to see the seasonal drift ice in Abashiri or Shiretoko Peninsula in Japan.
The two destinations, both located on Hokkaido's edge and facing Okhotsk, offer drift-ice sightseeing tours in the winter months. These tours have become increasingly popular among Chinese tourists in recent years, with some even booking months in advance.
People have also posted photos of their visits to the Ogasawara Islands, a niche Japanese travel destination that can only be reached by boat from Tokyo, with the journey lasting about 24 hours.
The rising popularity of these previously lesser-known destinations in the tourism market is closely connected with the changing structure of Chinese tourists to Japan.
According to statistics from the Japan National Tourism Organization earlier this month, Japan received more than 6.9 million visits from the Chinese mainland in 2024. The figure is lower than the 9.6 million reported in 2019, yet marks a 188 percent growth from 2023 -- the highest increase rate among all of Japan's tourist sources.
Behind the recovery of general visitor numbers, China's already mature Japan-bound tourism market has pivoted from sightseeing in tourist-heavy areas and package tours toward more diversified and in-depth travel types.
Japan's Nikkei previously cited Tomoyuki Takata, president of Trip.com International Travel Japan, as saying that there have been more individual tourists and fewer tourist groups among Chinese visitors. He noted that Trip.com had seen tourist bookings for Japan from the Chinese mainland double in 2024 compared to 2019.
Also, thanks to the continuous facilitation of visa procedures and relaxed visa policies, multi-entry Japan tourist visas are now available to more Chinese people, many of whom are young and well-off, with a high travel literacy level and a preference for solo visits.
In December 2024, China and Japan reached 10 agreements to promote people-to-people and cultural exchange, including efforts to support tourism cooperation and introduce more facilitation measures to promote mutual visits between tourists from the two countries.
Boosted by more favorable visa policies, several Chinese airlines have planned to increase flights to Japanese cities such as Tokyo, Okinawa and Shizuoka in the first quarter of this year.
Observers expect that driven by these factors, the annual number of visits from the Chinese mainland to Japan may exceed 10 million in the near future.
MORE FAVORS FOR CHINESE VISITORS
In September last year, 34-year-old Yangyang and her husband traveled to Wakayama Prefecture. Having visited Japan in 2010 and 2016, she noted that there were "obviously more" Chinese tourists this time around.
Services for the convenience of Chinese visitors are also easy to find, she said, noting that they had received assistance from Chinese-speaking staff at a railway station in Wakayama City.
As the capital of Wakayama Prefecture, the city itself is not a tourist attraction but has seen increasing numbers of Chinese visitors as a stopping point linking Osaka and the famous Kumano Kodo pilgrimage route, a UNESCO World Heritage Site which has gained popularity in China in recent years.
Moreover, major tourism-related service providers in Japan are trying to attract customers from China, promoting their services or products on Chinese social networks. Earlier this month, the West Japan Railway Company uploaded a video to its official Xiaohongshu account, which was launched in November last year, introducing its routes and railway passes.
With the growth of Chinese tourist numbers, the presence of Chinese companies in Japan is also growing.
Signs advertising "Go with Alipay/WeChat Pay" can now be easily spotted in Japanese shopping malls and restaurants.
In November, Alipay+, a cross-border mobile payments solution by China's Ant Group, and PayPay, Japan's leading QR code payment operator, announced an upgraded partnership to broaden the merchant coverage of Alipay+ in Japan, covering more businesses of different sizes in various regions.
DEEPER UNDERSTANDING
Following the announcement of Japan's more favorable visa policy for Chinese tourists, Japanese documentary director Ryo Takeuchi expressed his excitement on Weibo, another Chinese social media platform.
"That's great! There can be more exchanges between China and Japan, and mutual understanding will be enhanced," the director, who is famous among Chinese audience for his documentaries about China, wrote in a post.
On Xiaohongshu, people are also posting their travel itineraries and recommendations in Japan revolving around specific themes -- from architecture and history to literature and culture.
"It will be boring if you travel to a place without knowing anything about it," read one post recommending Japanese books for hiking trips in the country.
In another post, the author recalled his visit to the Eiheiji temple, a centuries-old Buddhist temple in Japan's Fukui Prefecture, as well as his discussion about the Zen school of Buddhism with a monk there.
One Weibo user has shared what she called a "lucky moment" during her trip to Japan, using two terms from traditional Japanese aesthetics: "I accidentally got off the bus too early and had to walk to my destination. On the way, I stumbled upon a beautiful scene -- fallen leaves, a gentle breeze, flowing water, birdsong and a vermilion shrine gate nestled amid the lush greenery…"
"At the time, the romantic beauty of wabi-sabi and yugen flowed from my sight into my entire being." ■