The Japan-bound Chinese market changed structurally across the pandemic. According to Japan Tourism Agency data, the share of group tours — roughly 30% in the October–December 2019 quarter — shrank to under 5% by the October–December 2023 quarter, with more than 95% shifting to independent travel (FIT). Furthermore, the “10-year multiple-entry visa for high-income individuals” and the “extension of group-visa stays to 30 days” announced by the Foreign Minister in December 2024 are positioned as measures that will accelerate the inflow of high-income FIT travelers from spring 2025 onward. This article draws on over 32.5 million guest reviews across all languages analyzed by MetroEngines Research (of which roughly 800,000 are in Chinese) and the rating distribution of high-ADR hotel groups above ¥40,000 ADR to quantify which lodgings and which experiences FIT Chinese guests are beginning to choose.

The Structural Collapse of Group Tours and the New “High-Net-Worth FIT” Category

According to a column published by the Japan Travel and Tourism Association based on Japan Tourism Agency data, the group-tour participation rate among Japan-bound Chinese visitors was roughly 30% in the Oct–Dec 2019 quarter, and by the Oct–Dec 2023 quarter more than 95% were traveling independently. Analysis by Mizuho Research & Technologies likewise finds that group-tour use, which stood at around 30% in 2019, had fallen to roughly 10% by 2024. Rather than a halving across the pandemic, a change closer to near-disappearance took place.

Several factors lie behind this. First, the delay by Chinese authorities in lifting the ban on group travel to Japan (resumed August 2023). Second, the launch of direct routes such as Shanghai–Osaka pushed LCC fare bands for round-trip air tickets down substantially, creating an environment in which repeat visitors can return to Japan “as if on a domestic trip.” Third, institutional measures on the Japanese side, such as the “creation of a 10-year multiple-entry visa for high-income individuals (applications accepted from spring 2025)” and the “extension of group-visa stays to 30 days,” which Foreign Minister Iwaya announced in Beijing on December 25, 2024. These created the groundwork for Chinese FIT travel for tourism and leisure purposes — including the wealthy segment — to diversify further.

Source: Japan Tourism Agency “Consumption Trend Survey for International Visitors,” Japan Travel and Tourism Association column, and Mizuho Research & Technologies; compiled by the HotelBank Editorial Team.

Chinese Reviews Reveal a Shift from “Location Dependence” to “Room Experience”

Among the over 570,000 guest reviews analyzed by MetroEngines Research, classifying the N=5,773 Chinese-language (Simplified) reviews within Tokyo into 79 tags shows the highest mention rates for “close to nearest station (31.06%),” “central location (28.46%),” and “room cleanliness (19.31%).” Compared with the N=199,926 Japanese-language reviews, mention rates for station-proximity and central location line up at nearly the same level, showing that location remains the central evaluation axis.

What deserves attention, however, is a different tendency appearing in the Chinese-language reviews of resort prefectures. In Hokkaido (N=3,067), “hot spring (14.02%)”; in Shizuoka (N=1,036), “room view (23.94%)”; and in Oita (N=654), “hot spring (20.64%)” and “view (14.98%)” appear near the top of the mention rankings. Whereas in urban areas proximity to stations, shopping, and sightseeing is the selection criterion, in regional resorts “the experiential value of the room itself” has become the evaluation driver for Chinese guests. The difference in evaluation axes between Japanese and inbound guests is quantitatively analyzed from the reviews of 200 Tokyo properties in Tokyo Hotel Review Gap by Language: How Japanese vs Inbound Guests Differ.

Source: MetroEngines Research (NLP 79-tag analysis, 24-month window, N=review counts by language); compiled by the HotelBank Editorial Team.

A Chinese-Review Density Map of Hotels Above ¥40,000 ADR

Looking at the category-level ADR by prefecture as of April 2026, Hokkaido’s deluxe hotels average an ADR of ¥80,800 (N=14 properties), vacation rentals ¥53,000 (N=215), auberges ¥50,400 (N=12), and glamping ¥45,000 (N=11) — a price band well above resort hotels at ¥36,600 (N=124). The top mention tags in Chinese-language reviews — “hot spring,” “view,” and “attentive service (13.27%)” — align precisely with the experiential axes offered by the cluster of properties concentrated in this above-¥40k range.

Source: MetroEngines Research (April 2026, N as noted in the table); compiled by the HotelBank Editorial Team.

A “Chinese Reviews × Tag Mention Rate” Matrix by Prefecture

Lining up the Chinese-language review mention rates for six major resort and tourism prefectures reveals a clearly different tendency between the “urban staples” of Tokyo and Kyoto and the “resort” group of Hokkaido, Shizuoka, Oita, and Nagano. The table below organizes the Chinese-language review count N and the mention rates of key tags for each area.

Source: MetroEngines Research (NLP analysis of Chinese-language (Simplified) reviews, 24-month window); compiled by the HotelBank Editorial Team. “―” indicates the tag did not reach the mention-count threshold to rank near the top.

For Tokyo and Kyoto, “close to nearest station (28–31%)” and “central location (26–28%)” top the Chinese-language mention rates, showing that the main battleground for FIT guests still centers on urban mobility and convenience. In Shizuoka, Oita, Nagano, and Hokkaido, by contrast, room- and experience-based tags such as “view,” “hot spring,” and “attentive service” occupy the top ranks. This can be read as FIT Chinese guests moving toward portfolio thinking — using urban convenience and regional-resort experiential value for different purposes.

The Opportunity in Regional Resorts Where “Attentive Service” and “View” Stand Out

The figures for Shizuoka (Atami, Izu) are especially worth noting. Of the N=1,036 Chinese-language reviews, mentions of the room view reach 23.94% and mentions of attentive staff service reach 29.05% — far exceeding the mention rates for Tokyo and Kyoto. This shows that FIT Chinese guests highly value the “room configuration overlooking the sea or mountains” and “individualized hospitality” of the Izu and Atami areas as experiential value. The same tendency appears in Oita (hot spring 20.64%) and Nagano (attentive service 24.63%).

Source: MetroEngines Research (NLP analysis of Chinese-language (Simplified) reviews); compiled by the HotelBank Editorial Team.

Such “upside in experience-axis mention rates” aligns with the high-ADR lodging groups in the above-¥40,000 range. Hokkaido’s price levels — deluxe hotels averaging ¥80,800 ADR, vacation rentals ¥53,000, auberges ¥50,400, and glamping ¥45,000 — deliver an experience clearly different from urban business and city hotels on three points: room size, on-site facilities, and service density. When the FIT shift among Chinese guests intersects with the longer stays enabled by the 10-year multiple-entry visa for the wealthy (up to 90 days per stay, valid for 10 years), demand inflow into these regional high-ADR lodging groups is highly likely to increase further.

Reading the Negative Signal of “Dissatisfaction with Room Size”

Another thing that stands out in Chinese-language (Simplified) reviews is that “room size” ranks near the top as a negative mention (12.68%). This suggests that the standard room sizes offered by business and city hotels in Tokyo (many around 14–20㎡) may fall short of Chinese guests’ expectations. Many hotels in China’s major cities offer larger rooms as standard even in the same price band, making the perceived gap significant.

Interpreted in reverse, this size-dissatisfaction signal becomes a tailwind for regional high-ADR lodgings. Categories built mainly around spacious rooms and detached-unit formats — Hokkaido vacation rentals (average ADR ¥53,000, N=215 properties), auberges (¥50,400, N=12), cottages (¥36,700, N=72), and glamping (¥45,000, N=11) — structurally match the experiential demands of FIT Chinese high-net-worth travelers. An experience of feeling “cramped” at an urban property may push the next choice toward a regional resort.

Not “De-China” but “Product Design Tailored to FIT China” Is the Upside

The debate over “moving away from dependence on Chinese guests” and a “de-China portfolio,” discussed in some media in 2023–2024, was based on the group-tour-era image of Chinese guests (concentration on the Golden Route, delivery by large tour buses, shopping-centric). Yet as far as Japan Tourism Agency data and review mention-rate data show, FIT Chinese guests have shifted to different purchasing behavior (the macro-environment view is organized along the three axes of economy, exchange rates, and geopolitics in Chinese Visitors Won’t Return Despite Visa Easing — 3 Factors and 2026 H2 Scenarios). The share of shopping in total spending is said to have fallen from roughly 53% to around 38%, while lodging rose from roughly 20% to 29% (Japan Tourism Agency Consumption Trend Survey, Chinese visitors, comparing 2019 with January–September 2025). This change is a long-term upside factor for lodgings able to invest in raising room rates and refining experiential value.

The 10-year multiple-entry visa for the wealthy (applications opening spring 2025) targets individuals with “high income and assets”; the criteria are undisclosed, but stays of up to 90 days per entry are permitted. There is ample room for product design aimed at FIT high-net-worth travelers — long-stay rooms, multi-night discount plans, in-house multilingual support, and introductory programs on hot-spring culture. Specifically, promising directions include: (1) differentiation through suites, connecting rooms, and whole-house rentals with room areas of 30㎡ or more; (2) Chinese-speaking concierge service and multilingual booking sites; (3) packages of two or more nights (combining hot-spring culture, local ingredients, and nature experiences); and (4) touring tie-ups with urban hotels (delivering guests across combinations such as Tokyo–Kyoto–Yufuin).

Summary

The group-tour share among Japan-bound Chinese guests shifted structurally from roughly 30% in 2019 to under 5% (over 95% independent travel) in 2023. With the 10-year multiple-entry visa for the wealthy and the 30-day group-stay extension of December 2024, the groundwork is in place for accelerating inflows of high-income FIT travelers from 2025 onward. Analysis of mention rates in Chinese-language (Simplified) reviews shows that while urban areas continue to favor “station proximity and central location,” resort prefectures such as Shizuoka, Oita, Nagano, and Hokkaido are led by room- and experience-based tags such as “view,” “hot spring,” and “attentive service.” Regional high-ADR lodging groups above ¥40,000 ADR — especially categories that offer “spacious room experiences” such as deluxe hotels, vacation rentals, auberges, glamping, and cottages — present a white space that aligns with the preferences of FIT high-net-worth Chinese guests. The fact-based conclusion to be drawn now is not a “de-China” argument, but that lodgings which tailor their product design to the qualitative change in FIT Chinese guests will capture the opportunity.