Japan’s tourism boom — recently hauling in an incredible 42.7 million visitors in 2025 — is not hitting all areas equally.

While over 50% of foreign tourists visit Tokyo and nearly 40% see Osaka, only 2.9% go to Nagano Prefecture, home of the Japanese Alps. Just 1.2% visit Miyagi, the economic and cultural center of the northeast Tohoku region, and a mere 0.5% venture deeper into prefectures like Yamagata and Fukushima.

The irony of this trend is that the regions receiving the least amount of international visitors are those that could use the greatest economic boost from tourist pocketbooks.

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