5 months ago
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Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said connected Wednesday (December 17, 2025) she is "always open" to dialog with China contempt a diplomatic enactment betwixt Tokyo and Beijing implicit comments she made astir Taiwan.
"China is an important neighbour for Japan, and we request to physique constructive and unchangeable relationships," Ms. Takaichi told a quality conference.
"Japan is ever unfastened to dialog with China. We're not shutting our door."
China and Japan are enmeshed successful a spat implicit Takaichi's proposition successful November that Tokyo could intervene militarily successful immoderate onslaught connected Taiwan.
Beijing claims the self-ruled antiauthoritarian land arsenic portion of its territory and has threatened to usage unit to bring it nether its control.
The comments triggered a crisp diplomatic backlash from China, which has urged its citizens to debar travelling to Japan. Official information released connected Wednesday showed the informing has had an interaction connected visitant numbers.
Arrivals from mainland China to Japan past period edged up conscionable 3 percent from a twelvemonth earlier, the weakest maturation since January 2022, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO).
Around 560,000 travellers from China visited Japan past month, representing a 3 percent year-on-year increase, the JNTO said, citing the question informing arsenic a origin successful the humble hike.
The year-on-year maturation of Chinese visitors to Japan had steadily hovered successful the treble digits for months — 22.8% successful October, 18.9% successful September and 36.5% successful August.
Big spenders
Despite the cancellation of galore radical tours from China, "the diminution of Chinese guests is offset by visitors from different countries," Takayuki Kitanaka, spokesperson for the Osaka Convention and Tourism Bureau, told AFP.
"Many businesses are making efforts truthful that they would beryllium acceptable to invited backmost Chinese visitors erstwhile things calm down," helium said.
China is the biggest root of tourists to the Japanese archipelago, with astir 7.5 cardinal visitors successful the archetypal 9 months of 2025 — a 4th of each overseas tourists, according to authoritative figures.
Attracted by a anemic yen, they splashed retired the equivalent of $3.7 cardinal successful the 3rd quarter. Each Chinese tourer spent connected mean 22 percent much than different visitors past year, according to the JNTO.
A caller survey by large probe steadfast Teikoku Databank recovered that portion 43 percent of companies saw the inclination arsenic atrocious for the Japanese economy, 41 percent did not expect immoderate impact.
"These results suggest that galore companies are taking the existent question restrictions comparatively calmly," Teikoku Databank said.
In the latest escalation of the enactment this month, Chinese subject craft locked radar onto Japanese jets, prompting Tokyo to summon Beijing's Ambassador.
