Do you like going to Japan?

If the answer is "yes", you are most certainly not alone.

Like really not alone.

We love Japan

According to the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), a grand total of 300,000 people from Singapore travelled to Japan in just the first half of 2024 for the duration from January to June.

This includes transiting travellers and foreigners who live in Japan, such as expats and international students.

And of course, those who really love Japan and visited it more than once in the last six months would have further contributed to the numbers.

JNTO also said these statistics refer purely to Singapore citizens who have made the trip to Japan — not including permanent residents.

Other countries also love Japan

South Korean visitors were the biggest fans of Japan, with 4,442,100 people from there travelling to Japan from January to June 2024.

Next up came China and Taiwan, which had 3,068,000 and 2,979,200 travellers respectively, during the same period.

After Hong Kong and Thailand, Singapore ranked sixth on the list.

Malaysia came in at number seven with 241,800 travellers.

In total, Japan hosted a whopping 17,777,200 arrivals in the first half of 2024.

Yen factor

More Singaporeans have likely been spurred to travel to Japan because of the favourable exchange rate of late.

On Jun. 27, the Singapore dollar reached a then record high of S$1 to 118.21 yen.

It wasn't long before it shattered this new record with a rate of S$1 to 120.02 yen on Jul. 11.

As of now, the Japanese yen has strengthened slightly against the Singapore dollar, making the exchange rate S$1 to 115.21 yen.

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Top image via Nikolay Likomanov/Unsplash