Since the pandemic, Japan has stood out as an exception to the global “revenge travel” trend. Unlike other nations, whose citizens eagerly took to international travel post-lockdowns, the Japanese largely chose to stay within their own borders. International travel from Japan has been slow to rebound, with many preferring domestic trips due to factors such as a weak yen and increased costs of overseas travel.
In an effort to address this, Hiroyuki Takahashi, chairman of the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA), has proposed offering free passports to 18-year-olds to encourage more young people to venture abroad. Takahashi noted that only 17% of Japanese citizens held passports in 2023, a worrying statistic for fostering a globally minded youth.
“This is problematic when we think about the development of people with a global mindset,” said Takahashi, who also chairs JTB Corp. He plans to present the idea of distributing passports to new adults to Japan’s central government. A further suggestion is to provide passports to students after junior high school, potentially boosting the number of high schools organising overseas trips.
With outbound travel numbers still 38.9% lower than in 2019, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization, Takahashi believes this initiative could revitalise international travel from Japan. He also highlighted the importance of increasing outbound travellers to sustain new international routes to Japan, which is crucial for meeting the government’s target of 60 million inbound tourists by 2030.
