Lining up three years of Korea-market data from the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO)’s monthly visitor arrivals by nationality shows a peak from December through February and a trough in August. In 2025 the three months of December–February accounted for 29.5% of the year’s 9.46 million visitors, and in January 2026 arrivals reached 1,176,089 — the first time any market has topped 1.1 million in a single month. This seasonality runs opposite to total inbound, which is heaviest in April and October, and for Kyushu’s hotels it points to where winter demand comes from. This article confirms JNTO’s monthly series against the primary source, reads what Korean-language guest reviews of Fukuoka and Oita properties talk about, and looks across five Kyushu prefectures for where the winter peak in estimated settled ADR overlaps with Korea’s peak.

Korean Visitors Peak in Dec–Feb, Bottom Out in August — Winter’s 3 Months Were 29.5% of 2025

First, the JNTO monthly series. Visitors from Korea totaled 8,817,765 in 2024, with December (867,377) the highest month and August (612,172) the lowest. In 2025 the total rose to 9,459,711 (+7.3% YoY), and the shape held: December (974,239) was the annual peak and August (660,917) the trough. January, February and December combined came to 2,542,978 in 2024, or 28.8% of the year, and 2,788,697 in 2025, or 29.5% — around 4 points (3.8–4.5 points) above the 25% an even monthly split would give. By contrast, June–August accounted for 23.5% in 2024 and 21.9% in 2025, so the gap with winter is widening year by year.

In 2026 the winter peak climbed higher still. January reached 1,176,089 (+21.6% YoY) and February 1,086,381 (+28.2%), topping one million two months in a row, and the three winter months from December 2025 to February 2026 totaled 3,236,709, up +20.7% from the same three months a year earlier (2,681,835). In its January press release JNTO noted this was “the first time any market has exceeded 1.1 million in a single month,” attributing it to “continued popularity of travel to Japan, plus increased air seat capacity including additional flights between Busan and Fukuoka, and the effect of school holidays.” Its December release likewise cited “increased air seat capacity including additional flights on the Gimpo–Kansai and Incheon–Kansai routes, and rising demand from university students,” suggesting the winter peak forms where the holiday season and seat supply coincide. Where Korean guests stayed in January, and how January ADR moved in the host prefectures, is analyzed in detail in Korea Hits 1.176M Japan Visitors in January: 67% Stay in 4 Prefectures.

Source: Compiled by HotelBank Editorial Team from JNTO “Visitor Arrivals by Nationality/Month” (July–September 2026 are estimates)

Laid out month by month, every month from January to September 2026 exceeded the same month a year earlier, with double-digit growth in all but June (+7.8%). September was 842,300 (+25.6%), and JNTO’s September release said that “seven markets including Korea, Mexico and the Middle East set September records.” The January–September cumulative total was 8,262,700 (+21.6%): Korea is the largest market across the year, and in 2026 the summer trough was also shallower than a year earlier.

Source: JNTO “Visitor Arrivals by Nationality/Month” (version updated September 16, 2026); September 2026 is the estimate from JNTO’s press release (October 21, 2026)

Korea’s Share of All Visitors Also Rises in Winter — 26.9% in December, 26.0% in February

That Korea’s seasonality runs opposite to the overall market is easiest to see in Korea’s monthly share of all visitors to Japan. Total arrivals across all markets were 42.68 million in 2025, with the monthly distribution heavier in spring and autumn — January 8.9%, April 9.2%, October 9.1% — and only 8.5% in December. For Korea alone, however, the distribution is heavier in winter — January 10.2%, December 10.3%, October 9.2% — and thinner in April (7.6%) and August (7.0%). As a result, Korea’s share of all visitors rises to 26.9% in December, 26.0% in February and 25.6% in January, 7–8 points above April’s 18.5% and August’s 19.3%. With Korea’s full-year share at 22.2%, more than one in four winter visitors comes from Korea.

In 2026 the share rose further: 32.7% in January and 31.3% in February — approaching one in three — and 26.9% on a January–September cumulative basis. While total arrivals fell below the prior year in a run of months, due to higher airfares linked to the Middle East situation and typhoon-related flight cancellations, Korea — a short-haul, short-stay market — was less affected, which pushed its share up. This article does not go into the China market, however, and focuses on Korea’s seasonality itself.

Source: Compiled by HotelBank Editorial Team from JNTO “Visitor Arrivals by Nationality/Month” (2025, final figures)

Winter Rates in Five Kyushu Prefectures — Oita Peaks at ¥17.3k in Both December and January; Fukuoka Peaks in November, With December Second

So how does Korea’s winter peak show up in Kyushu hotel rates? Using MetroEngines Research’s prefecture-level estimated settled ADR (verified-history basis), we lined up January 2025 through February 2026 for five prefectures: Fukuoka, Oita, Saga, Nagasaki and Kumamoto. MetroEngines Research tracks approx. 168,000 properties in Japan, of which approx. 27,000 properties (approx. 1.26 million rooms) confirmed active on OTAs are in scope for analysis; the number of properties covered in this section is 451–477 in Fukuoka, 436–470 in Oita, 142–157 in Saga, 246–258 in Nagasaki and 366–404 in Kumamoto.

Oita Prefecture’s monthly ADR averaged ¥14,600 in 2025, but December was the year’s highest at ¥17,300, and January 2026 held almost the same level at ¥17,300. Growth was strong too: +16.3% YoY in December and +19.9% in January. Comparing the average of the three winter months from December 2025 to February 2026 (¥16,500) with the average of the four summer months from June to September 2025 (¥13,900) gives +19.3%, the largest winter uplift of the five prefectures. In the prefecture where onsen is the most-mentioned theme in Korean-language reviews (see below), the winter rate peak and Korea’s visitor peak both fall in December–January.

Fukuoka Prefecture looks a little different. Its 2025 peak was November at ¥13,300, with December second at ¥12,800. November tends to bring large events and academic conferences to Hakata and Tenjin, and this peak appears to come from domestic event and business demand, separate from Korea’s winter demand. Even so, December was +15.0% YoY and January 2026 was ¥12,000, up +25.7% — the strongest growth rates of the year came in winter. The winter three-month average (¥12,300) was +14.0% above the summer four-month average (¥10,800): a pattern of “peak in autumn, growth in winter.” JNTO’s citing of additional Busan–Fukuoka flights as a January driver and Fukuoka’s +25.7% January ADR growth can be read as two views of the same winter.

Source: Compiled by HotelBank Editorial Team from MetroEngines Research (Oita Prefecture, estimated settled ADR, N=436–470 properties)

In Saga, Nagasaki and Kumamoto the winter uplift is more moderate. Saga Prefecture’s January 2026 ADR of ¥14,200 was the highest of the latest 14 months, but some months fell below the prior year — December −8.2% YoY and February −9.5% — and the gap between the winter three months and the summer four months is only +7.9%. Nagasaki’s winter three-month average was ¥8,200 (+6.9% vs summer) and Kumamoto’s ¥11,300 (+9.7%): winter is higher in all of them, but without the step seen in Oita and Fukuoka. Ranked by winter uplift, the five prefectures run Oita +19.3%, Fukuoka +14.0%, Kumamoto +9.7%, Saga +7.9% and Nagasaki +6.9% (for the winter foreign-guest share and occupancy by segment in four non-snow prefectures including Oita and Saga, see Winter Inbound Beyond Snow: 4 Japan Prefectures at 27–29% Share).

Source: Compiled by HotelBank Editorial Team from MetroEngines Research. Estimated settled ADR (tax-excluded equivalent, verified-history basis). Winter 3 months = December 2025–February 2026 and summer 4 months = June–September 2025, each averaged. Saga has fewer properties covered, so single-month swings are larger

Source: Compiled by HotelBank Editorial Team from MetroEngines Research

Korean Reviews Are 14.0% of Fukuoka’s Four-Language Total — They Talk About “Near the Station,” “Location” and “Cleanliness”

Next, the reviews: what do the Korean guests who arrive in such numbers in winter look for in a hotel? Tallying guest reviews by language for the latest 24 months (November 2024–October 2026), HotelBank Editorial Team found 312,465 reviews in Fukuoka Prefecture — 222,424 in Japanese, 43,857 in Korean, 26,701 in English and 19,483 in Traditional Chinese — with Korean accounting for 14.0% of the four-language total. That is above English (8.5%) and Traditional Chinese (6.2%), making Korean the largest of the foreign languages.

The most-mentioned themes in Korean-language reviews are near the station / transport access at 23.4%, good location (overall) at 18.9% and room cleanliness at 17.5%, followed by friendly staff 12.7%, room size 12.3% and value for money 10.9%. Compared with Japanese-language reviews, near the station (Japanese 20.3%) and cleanliness (17.0%) are mentioned at almost the same rate, while overall location (11.2%), friendly staff (6.9%) and value for money (7.7%) are mentioned 1.4–1.8 times as often in Korean. Proximity to downtown (9.0%) and convenient shopping (5.4%) also make the Korean top list; the reviews suggest Fukuoka is valued as “a city close to the airport and port that works well as a base for exploring on foot.”

Source: HotelBank Editorial Team research (NLP analysis of guest reviews, latest 24 months; mention rate = share of reviews in each language that touch on the theme). “—” = not in the top 15 themes

In Oita, “Onsen” Tops Korean Reviews at 22.9% — 10 Points Above Japanese (12.9%)

Oita Prefecture has a different makeup. Over the same 24 months there were 135,682 reviews — 112,827 in Japanese, 9,230 in Korean, 8,808 in English and 4,817 in Traditional Chinese — with Korean at 6.8%, roughly level with English at 6.5%. The volume is only a fifth of Fukuoka’s, but the content differs sharply. The most-mentioned theme in Korean-language reviews is onsen (hot springs) at 22.9%, followed by food at 22.3%, friendly staff 16.6%, attentive service 14.4% and room cleanliness 12.0%. Near the station, the top theme in Fukuoka, drops to sixth at 11.0%, while several bathing-related themes rank high: open-air baths at 9.2% and private baths at 6.3%.

Set against Japanese-language reviews, the difference is clear. In Japanese, food leads at 26.8% and onsen ranks only fourth at 12.9%; in Korean, onsen is first at 22.9%, 10 points above Japanese. Traditional Chinese also puts onsen first (22.2%), and English shows bathing overall at 20.3% and onsen at 15.2% — across the foreign-language reviews, the bathing experience comes to the fore. Mentions of friendly staff are 16.6% in Korean and 16.4% in English versus 8.9% in Japanese, so service leaves a stronger impression in the foreign languages. For Oita hotels, home to Beppu and Yufuin, the fact that onsen and service sit at the center of Korean speakers’ evaluations shows how well the prefecture is placed to receive guests in the season when its rates peak. Bathing experiences being mentioned more often in Korean and Traditional Chinese reviews is not unique to Oita: the same pattern appears nationwide, including in regional onsen towns.

Source: HotelBank Editorial Team research (Oita Prefecture, NLP analysis of guest reviews, latest 24 months. Japanese N=112,827, Korean N=9,230, English N=8,808, Traditional Chinese N=4,817)

Kyushu as a Winter Destination — Onsen Messaging and Designing for December–February

Pulling this together, three sets of figures point to the same season. First, visitors from Korea peak in December–February: 29.5% of the year in 2025, with the peak climbing higher in winter 2026 at +20.7% YoY. Second, Oita’s estimated settled ADR hits its annual peak in December and January, and while Fukuoka peaks in November, its December and January growth rates are the year’s highest. Third, Korean-language reviews talk most about the station and location in Fukuoka, and about onsen and service in Oita. The picture that emerges: winter Korean demand underpins Kyushu’s rate peak, and what guests value differs by prefecture.

From an operator’s perspective, December–February is both the busiest period for arrivals from Korea and, in Oita, the period when rates are highest. Given that onsen tops Korean-language reviews, there is room to grow plans that communicate winter open-air baths, private baths and the post-bath stay experience in Korean. In Fukuoka, Korean reviews talk about being near the station, close to downtown and convenient for shopping, so messaging that foregrounds “ease of use as a base in the city” rather than the stay itself matches what reviewers value. Mentions of friendly staff and attentive service appear at nearly twice the rate of Japanese reviews — evidence that front-line service is reaching Korean speakers, and a strength to position for the winter peak season.

Meanwhile, the winter uplift in Saga, Nagasaki and Kumamoto is a more moderate +7–10% than in Oita and Fukuoka. Rather than meaning winter demand is thin, this indicates that rate peaks are still at levels comparable to autumn or summer — which can also be read as room remaining to reflect Korea’s winter peak in rates. With arrivals from Korea continuing to grow strongly in 2026 (+21.6% cumulative for January–September), how bookings build for the coming December–February is worth watching in each Kyushu prefecture.

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