KYOTO: About 62.79 million tourists visited Kyoto in 2025, marking the first time the figure has surpassed 60 million since the municipal government began tracking visitor numbers in 1958.
The number of foreign visitors and tourists who stayed in the city for at least one night also reached record highs.
For statistical purposes, tourists were defined as people visiting from outside the city for reasons other than commuting to work or school. The figures were estimated based on research conducted in accordance with national standards, as well as questionnaire surveys and other sources of information.
Including day-trippers, the data showed that 50.11 million Japanese visitors travelled to Kyoto last year, an 11% increase from the previous year, while the number of foreign visitors reached a record 12.68 million, up 17% year-on-year.
Monthly visitor numbers ranged between 4 million and 6 million.
The number of overnight visitors reached 16.59 million, including a record 8.09 million foreign visitors, up 14% from the previous year.
By country and region, visitors from China accounted for 20% of the total, followed by those from the United States and Taiwan.
Meanwhile, the number of Japanese overnight visitors fell 8% to 8.49 million, a decline thought to be mainly due to rising hotel costs. - Japan News/ANN
