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Where visitors sleep: foreign guest nights by prefecture
Where international visitors actually sleep: foreign guest nights for every prefecture, the foreign share of all guests, and the change since 2019.
Last checked · Sources
In short
Foreign guests spent 179.9 million nights in Japanese accommodation in 2025, 27% of all guest nights. Tokyo had the most (60.1 million), followed by Osaka, Kyoto, Hokkaido and Okinawa. The highest foreign share of all guests was in Tokyo (56%).
All 47 prefectures by foreign guest nights
| # | Prefecture | Foreign guest nights 2025 | Share of all guest nights | vs 2024 | vs 2019 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tokyo | 60,115,730 | 55.7% | +5.8% | +104.8% | |
| 2 | Osaka | 24,517,740 | 41.7% | -3.5% | +36.8% | |
| 3 | Kyoto | 18,291,230 | 55.2% | +8.0% | +52.1% | |
| 4 | Hokkaido | 13,302,640 | 28.6% | +29.0% | +51.1% | |
| 5 | Okinawa | 9,211,700 | 27.2% | +32.8% | +18.8% | |
| 6 | Fukuoka | 8,421,130 | 33.0% | +14.0% | +97.6% | |
| 7 | Kanagawa | 4,927,440 | 18.4% | +11.5% | +51.7% | |
| 8 | Aichi | 4,859,630 | 21.4% | +24.4% | +33.7% | |
| 9 | Chiba | 4,375,880 | 15.5% | -0.7% | -8.8% | |
| 10 | Yamanashi | 2,750,510 | 27.7% | +7.7% | +33.8% | |
| 11 | Nagano | 2,508,350 | 13.2% | +7.2% | +59.0% | |
| 12 | Shizuoka | 2,228,930 | 9.9% | +18.2% | -10.6% | |
| 13 | Ishikawa | 2,142,820 | 22.5% | -2.6% | +117.6% | |
| 14 | Hiroshima | 2,115,650 | 18.2% | +8.0% | +60.0% | |
| 15 | Gifu | 2,004,510 | 24.6% | +3.9% | +20.7% | |
| 16 | Hyogo | 1,991,650 | 12.1% | +32.3% | +45.7% | |
| 17 | Kumamoto | 1,762,050 | 20.9% | +19.7% | +88.5% | |
| 18 | Oita | 1,491,590 | 18.3% | -4.9% | +23.6% | |
| 19 | Kagawa | 1,127,070 | 22.9% | +24.3% | +46.0% | |
| 20 | Miyagi | 1,005,110 | 9.6% | +29.4% | +78.5% | |
| 21 | Wakayama | 877,270 | 17.7% | +11.3% | +33.2% | |
| 22 | Niigata | 848,870 | 8.3% | +60.6% | +76.7% | |
| 23 | Nagasaki | 764,760 | 10.0% | +18.9% | +1.5% | |
| 24 | Kagoshima | 708,960 | 8.4% | +14.3% | -15.6% | |
| 25 | Okayama | 678,870 | 11.6% | +32.1% | +39.5% | |
| 26 | Ehime | 580,850 | 13.3% | +28.4% | +168.6% | |
| 27 | Aomori | 542,880 | 10.7% | +31.4% | +52.3% | |
| 28 | Nara | 520,130 | 16.4% | +30.1% | -2.8% | |
| 29 | Tochigi | 475,800 | 4.3% | -1.2% | +34.1% | |
| 30 | Iwate | 449,750 | 8.1% | +16.4% | +30.8% | |
| 31 | Toyama | 386,900 | 9.8% | +54.5% | +8.1% | |
| 32 | Mie | 380,310 | 4.1% | +57.7% | -2.2% | |
| 33 | Gunma | 360,270 | 4.1% | -16.7% | +23.2% | |
| 34 | Fukushima | 359,730 | 3.7% | +11.0% | +67.6% | |
| 35 | Yamagata | 312,560 | 6.6% | +22.0% | +33.5% | |
| 36 | Ibaraki | 312,000 | 4.3% | +12.4% | +43.5% | |
| 37 | Shiga | 307,990 | 6.4% | -8.6% | -27.3% | |
| 38 | Saitama | 280,350 | 5.2% | +23.1% | +27.7% | |
| 39 | Miyazaki | 263,050 | 6.8% | +23.5% | -19.4% | |
| 40 | Saga | 251,600 | 10.7% | +9.7% | -30.0% | |
| 41 | Tokushima | 230,080 | 8.6% | +32.5% | +72.3% | |
| 42 | Tottori | 203,600 | 7.9% | +72.0% | +10.3% | |
| 43 | Yamaguchi | 162,210 | 4.4% | +29.2% | +55.4% | |
| 44 | Akita | 148,340 | 5.0% | +24.0% | +6.4% | |
| 45 | Kochi | 140,780 | 5.0% | +6.9% | +47.6% | |
| 46 | Shimane | 114,300 | 3.3% | +36.5% | +9.8% | |
| 47 | Fukui | 108,550 | 2.8% | +17.7% | +11.1% |
Source: Japan Tourism Agency, Overnight Travel Statistics Survey, 2025 annual (final) (都道府県別 延べ宿泊者数（外国人・全体）、2024年・2019年は同調査の各年確定値). Period: 2025-01 to 2025-12. Unit: guest nights (person-nights).
What the numbers say
Tokyo recorded 60,115,730 foreign guest nights in 2025, then Osaka (24.5 million), Kyoto (18.3 million), Hokkaido (13.3 million), Okinawa (9.2 million) and Fukuoka (8.4 million). The top five prefectures hold 70% of all foreign guest nights.
Measured as a share of all guests, foreigners matter most in Tokyo (56%), Kyoto (55%), Osaka (42%), Fukuoka (33%) and Hokkaido (29%). The national average is 27%. At the other extreme, foreigners were under 4% of guests in Fukui, Shimane, Fukushima, Mie and Gunma — hotels there still cater mostly to Japanese travellers.
Compared with 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, the fastest growth among prefectures with at least 300,000 foreign guest nights was in Ehime (+169%), Ishikawa (+118%), Tokyo (+105%), Fukuoka (+98%) and Kumamoto (+88%).
8 prefectures still had fewer foreign guest nights than in 2019: Chiba (-9%), Shizuoka (-11%), Kagoshima (-16%), Nara (-3%), Mie (-2%), Shiga (-27%), Miyazaki (-19%) and Saga (-30%).
Year on year, the biggest increases in 2025 were in Niigata (+61%), Mie (+58%), Toyama (+54%), Okinawa (+33%) and Hyogo (+32%).
What a guest night is
A guest night is one person staying one night: a couple staying three nights is six guest nights. The Japan Tourism Agency collects the figures every month from hotels, ryokan, hostels and other licensed accommodation. Private rentals booked through home-sharing sites are counted separately and are not included here.
Guest nights are a good measure of where visitors actually sleep, which is different from where they visit. Nara, for example, receives many day-trippers from Kyoto and Osaka but relatively few overnight guests.
The share column is foreign guest nights divided by all guest nights, including Japanese guests. A high share means a destination that depends heavily on international visitors — and one where prices and availability move with international demand.
Frequently asked questions
Which prefecture has the most foreign hotel guests?
Tokyo, with 60,115,730 foreign guest nights in 2025 (56% of all guest nights there).
What share of hotel guests in Japan are foreign?
27.2% nationally in 2025 (179.9 million foreign guest nights out of 661.1 million). The share ranges from 56% in Tokyo to under 4% in Fukui, Shimane and Fukushima.
Do these figures include Airbnb-style rentals?
No. The Overnight Travel Statistics Survey covers licensed hotels, ryokan and similar accommodation. Private lodging registered under the home-sharing law is reported in a separate statistic.
Sources
Official and primary sources used for this page. Checked October 6, 2026.
- Japan Tourism Agency, Overnight Travel Statistics Survey, 2025 annual (final) – 都道府県別 延べ宿泊者数（外国人・全体）、2024年・2019年は同調査の各年確定値 — 2025-01 to 2025-12
- Japan Tourism Agency – Overnight Travel Statistics Survey — 2025 annual results (final)
- JNTO (Japan National Tourism Organization) – Japan tourism statistics — monthly visitor arrivals by market
To cite or link to this page: Where visitors sleep: foreign guest nights by prefecture — Japan Pocket Guide, https://japanpocketguide.com/rankings/prefectures-guest-nights/