← News Topics
Intermediate

How Did Aomori Get Noticed in China?

青森は中国でどう注目されたのか

4 August 2026

Snowy Aomori landscape with apple trees suggesting northern Japan tourism

Before the pandemic, China was Japan’s largest source of international visitors. In 2019, about 9.6 million people arrived from China. The market later recovered, but it weakened sharply again in late 2025 and 2026. In June 2026, Japan received about 341,000 visitors from China—57.3 percent fewer than in the same month a year earlier.

パンデミック前、中国は日本への国際観光客の最大の送り出し国でした。2019年には、約960万人が中国から到着しました。市場はその後回復しましたが、2025年末と2026年に再び急激に弱まりました。2026年6月、日本は中国から約34万1,000人の訪問者を受け入れましたが、これは前年同月より57.3パーセント少ない数字でした。

This decline has created serious problems for hotels, shops, restaurants, and tourist attractions across Japan. Yet some less famous destinations are still attracting Chinese travelers. One example is Aomori Prefecture in northern Japan, even though it has no direct passenger flight from mainland China.

この減少は、日本全国のホテル、店舗、レストラン、観光地に深刻な問題を生み出しています。しかし、あまり有名でない一部の目的地は、なお中国人旅行者を引きつけています。一例が北日本の青森県で、中国本土からの直行旅客便がないにもかかわらずそうです。

Aomori is far from the usual international tourist route connecting Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. However, Chinese visitors recorded about 86,000 overnight stays in the prefecture in 2025, making China its second-largest foreign accommodation market after Taiwan. In the first five months of 2025, Chinese overnight stays were almost twice as high as in the same period a year earlier.

青森は、東京・京都・大阪をつなぐ通常の国際観光ルートからは遠く離れています。しかし、中国人訪問者は2025年に県内で約8万6,000泊の宿泊を記録し、中国は台湾に次ぐ二番目に大きな外国人宿泊市場となりました。2025年の最初の5か月では、中国人の宿泊は前年同期のほぼ2倍でした。

Aomori’s attractions certainly help. The prefecture offers snowy landscapes, hot springs, apples, the Nebuta Festival, and the mountain streams of Oirase. However, attractive places do not automatically become popular overseas. Travelers must first discover them, understand what they offer, and feel confident enough to plan a visit.

青森の魅力が確かに助けになっています。県は雪景色、温泉、りんご、ねぶた祭、奥入瀬の渓流を提供します。しかし、魅力的な場所が自動的に海外で人気になるわけではありません。旅行者はまずそれらを発見し、何を提供するかを理解し、訪問を計画するのに十分な自信を感じなければなりません。

Aomori has spent years promoting itself through platforms that Chinese travelers actually use. It established an official presence on Weibo and later added RedNote, a platform widely used for discovering travel ideas and sharing personal experiences. Rather than simply translating Japanese advertisements, the prefecture has tried to present local food, scenery, festivals, and seasonal activities in ways that match current interests in China.

青森は、中国人旅行者が実際に使うプラットフォームを通じて自らを宣伝することに何年も費やしてきました。微博（Weibo）に公式の存在を確立し、後に旅行アイデアの発見と個人体験の共有に広く使われるプラットフォーム、小紅書（RedNote）も追加しました。日本語の広告を単に翻訳するのではなく、県は地元の食べ物、景色、祭り、季節の活動を、中国の現在の関心に合う形で示そうとしてきました。

This strategy reflects an important change in tourism. Many travelers now choose destinations through short videos, photographs, personal recommendations, and online searches rather than traditional guidebooks. A place that is almost unknown in one country can suddenly become visible when its images and stories begin circulating on the right platform.

この戦略は観光における重要な変化を反映しています。多くの旅行者は今、伝統的なガイドブックではなく、短い動画、写真、個人の推薦、オンライン検索を通じて目的地を選びます。ある国ではほとんど知られていない場所でも、画像と物語が適切なプラットフォームで流通し始めると、突然見えるようになります。

Online promotion is only one part of the process. Travelers also need clear transport information, places that accept individual bookings, useful language support, and quick answers to practical questions. Aomori has worked with travel businesses and airlines while improving information for independent visitors. The prefecture also publishes tourism information in several languages and supports facilities that want to become easier for overseas guests to use.

オンライン宣伝は過程の一部にすぎません。旅行者には、明確な交通情報、個人予約を受け付ける場所、有用な言語サポート、実務的な質問への迅速な回答も必要です。青森は旅行業者や航空会社と協力しつつ、個人旅行者向けの情報を改善してきました。県はまた、観光情報を複数言語で公開し、海外ゲストが使いやすくしたい施設を支援しています。

Aomori’s experience offers a lesson for smaller destinations. They do not need to become famous everywhere. They need to understand the travelers they want to reach, appear where those travelers search for ideas, and make the journey feel possible. In modern tourism, being easy to discover and easy to choose may matter almost as much as having beautiful places to visit.

青森の経験は、より小さな目的地への教訓を示しています。どこでも有名になる必要はありません。到達したい旅行者を理解し、その旅行者がアイデアを探す場所に現れ、旅が可能だと感じさせる必要があります。現代の観光では、発見しやすく選びやすいことが、訪れる美しい場所を持つこととほぼ同じくらい重要かもしれません。

Vocabulary

  1. source market — a country or region from which a destination receives visitors. Example: China was once Japan’s largest source market for international tourism.
  2. decline — a reduction in number, amount, quality, or importance. Example: The decline in overseas visitors affected many local hotels.
  3. overnight stay — a night spent at a hotel or another type of accommodation. Example: The survey counted each visitor’s overnight stay in the prefecture.
  4. promote — to make people aware of something and encourage them to support, buy, or visit it. Example: The prefecture uses social media to promote its winter scenery.
  5. platform — an online service through which people share information or communicate. Example: Many travelers use the platform to search for restaurant recommendations.
  6. circulate — to spread or be shared among many people. Example: Photographs of the festival began to circulate online.
  7. independent traveler — a tourist who plans and books a trip without joining an organized group tour. Example: Independent travelers often need detailed information about local transport.
  8. destination — a place to which someone travels. Example: The town hopes to become a popular destination for overseas visitors.

Comprehension Questions

  1. Approximately how many visitors came to Japan from China in 2019?
    1. 341,000
    2. 2.5 million
    3. 6 million
    4. 9.6 million

    2019年に中国から日本に来た訪問者はおよそ何人でしたか？

  2. What happened to Chinese visitor numbers in June 2026?
    1. They were 57.3 percent lower than a year earlier.
    2. They returned to the 2019 level.
    3. They doubled from the previous year.
    4. They became higher than visitors from every other country.

    2026年6月の中国人訪問者数はどうなりましたか？

  3. Why is Aomori an unusual success story?
    1. It is located between Tokyo and Kyoto.
    2. It has many direct flights from China.
    3. It attracts Chinese visitors despite being outside the usual route and having no direct flight from mainland China.
    4. It receives only organized group tours.

    青森が異例の成功例なのはなぜですか？

  4. What is one important part of Aomori’s tourism strategy?
    1. Advertising only through Japanese newspapers
    2. Using Chinese social media platforms to share locally relevant content
    3. Limiting information available to individual travelers
    4. Focusing only on luxury shopping

    青森の観光戦略の重要な部分の一つは何ですか？

  5. What is the main message of the final paragraph?
    1. Smaller destinations must become famous worldwide.
    2. Beautiful scenery is enough to attract overseas visitors.
    3. Only large cities can succeed in international tourism.
    4. Destinations must be visible, understandable, and easy to choose.

    最終段落の主なメッセージは何ですか？

Discussion Questions

  1. Why might some international travelers prefer regional destinations to major cities?

    一部の国際旅行者が大都市より地方の目的地を好むことがあるのはなぜですか？

  2. How much influence should social media have on people’s travel decisions?

    ソーシャルメディアは人々の旅行の決定にどれくらい影響を与えるべきですか？

  3. Is it better for local governments to promote famous attractions or less-known experiences?

    地方政府は有名な観光地とあまり知られていない体験のどちらを宣伝する方が良いですか？

  4. What services are most important for independent international travelers?

    個人の国際旅行者にとって最も重要なサービスは何ですか？

  5. Which Japanese region could attract more overseas visitors, and how should it promote itself?

    どの日本の地域がより多くの海外訪問者を引きつけられ、どう自らを宣伝すべきですか？

Speaking Task

  1. Speak for about one minute about how Aomori attracts Chinese tourists. Include: the recent decline in visitors from China to Japan; why Aomori is an unusual destination; what the prefecture promotes; how it uses Chinese social media; and what other regional destinations can learn from its strategy.

    青森が中国人観光客をどう引きつけているかについて約1分間話してください。最近の中国から日本への訪問者の減少、青森が異例の目的地である理由、県が何を宣伝しているか、中国のソーシャルメディアの使い方、他の地方目的地がその戦略から学べることを含めてください。