When Japan travels, it doesn’t mind going it alone
More than any other country survey, Japan led the pack in travelers who prefer to travel alone. | GETTY IMAGES
BY JUSTIN RANDALL
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
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Jun 29, 2024
A new study found that lost among the swell of inbound tourism, overtourism and the perpetually weakening yen is a strong rip current pulling Japanese travelers into the uncharted waters of solo travel.
According to market research provider Euromonitor International, 19.2% of Japanese tourists prefer to travel alone — more than any of the 39 countries surveyed. Japan not only sits far above the average global preference for solo travel (just 7.2%), but domestic travelers also lean toward individual sojourns much more than those with siblings (8.8%) or parents (6.6%).
This year's polling marks an increase from 10.4% of travelers going solo in 2019, whereas the global percentage remained stagnant (7.0% in 2019). Japan isn’t just a nation of individual travelers, though — 19.4% prefer to travel with friends, 29% with their children and 48.8% with their spouse or partner.
Even so, Japan stands out as a country of solo travelers — a finding that Sachi Kimura, a consultant at Euromonitor in charge of travel in Japan, says is largely due to the nation’s demographics.
“As of 2023, single-person households account for 40% of all households in Japan, which is significantly higher than the global average of 20%,” Kimura explains.
In the future, more tour operators and sites of interest may start marketing themselves based on travelers' preferences to set their own schedules. | JUSTIN RANDALL
The survey also notes that those between 30 and 44 years of age are the most likely to travel solo, which coincides with the wealthiest income-earning years, and a separate 2024 survey conducted by Euromonitor highlights 70% of respondents in Japan noted the impact of poor mental health on daily life.
“Travel can be a way to deal with such stressful states, and the reason why we hear the term ‘staycation’ (a holiday without significant travel) and ‘bleisure’ (combines business and leisure) a lot in recent travel trends is the reflection of consumers seeking quick and attainable retreats and healing from travel.”
It’s not just trips close to home that are appealing for Japanese travelers — despite the weak yen, Euromonitor found that the top five destinations for outbound Japanese tourists in 2023 were the United States, South Korea, China, Thailand and Taiwan.
Regardless of the destination, Kimura sees more tour operators and regions leaning on “travel as a form of self-care.”
“The key messaging toward solo travelers often promotes keywords like ‘travel at your own pace’ or ‘free-spirited travel,’ encouraging solo travelers to make choices based on their own personal preferences,” she says.
This trend ultimately shows that as long as the pressures of modern life push us to seek escape in the form of travel (be it alone or with others) there will always be a destination waiting to take you in.
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