Japan's September weather impacts tourism and agriculture

Last month was the least sunny September on record on the Pacific Ocean side of Japan while rainfall hit a record high, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. This weather has chilled tourism and raised concerns among rice farmers.

Despite the adverse weather, Japan's tourism sector has seen record-breaking performance in 2024. Foreign visitor spending in the first nine months of the year surpassed 2023's full-year record of JPY 5.3 trillion ($35 billion), reaching JPY 5.8 trillion yen ($39 billion) between January and September 2024, according to data from the Japan Tourism Agency. The number of foreign tourist arrivals was close to 27 million as of September 30, based on preliminary figures from the Japan National Tourism Organization. July 2024 recorded an all-time high of 3.29 million foreign tourist arrivals in a single month.