Only one in every six Japanese citizens holds a valid passport, according to the latest government data. The latter rate is well below half of all Americans with passports, but has increased from about five percent in 1990. Seoul has stated that this number is around 60 percent in neighboring South Korea.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday that there were 21.6 million valid Japanese passports in circulation as of December 2024, representing about 17.5 percent of the total population. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, about a quarter of Japanese people had a valid passport. According to this year’s Henley Passport Index, South Korea’s passport is tied for the second most powerful in the world, behind Singapore’s. Singapore allows visa-free entry to more than 190 destinations.
The ministry said travel out of Japan has gradually resumed after the end of quarantines and border closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. But analysts say the weakness of the yen, which has lost a third of its value in the past five years, has deterred Japanese travelers due to inflation and a renewed interest in domestic travel.
Japan has welcomed a surge in tourist arrivals from other countries. More than 360 million tourists visited Japan last year, with the biggest draw being tourist destinations such as Kyoto.
In the late 1980s, international travel by Japanese citizens began to increase rapidly. In 1990, more than 10 million people from Japan went abroad, and before the pandemic, this number had increased to 20 million.
According to Japan’s top travel agency JTB, about 14.1 million Japanese are expected to travel abroad this year. “In recent years, the sharp depreciation of the yen has kept some away from overseas travel, but overseas travel is expected to pick up once currency markets calm down,” said a study released by the government in January.
