Seoul is full of Japanese who are “too poor to go anywhere but Korea,” and mileage-hungry travelers are aiming for the best spots… The reality of the popularity of “travel to Korea

One-quarter” of all Japanese traveling out of Japan to Korea!

South Korea is at the top of the popularity ranking of overseas travel destinations for Japanese people. The reasons for this include “close proximity to Japan” and “easy access with low travel costs,” all of which are “cheap, close, and short” for today’s Japanese.

On the other hand, the recent depreciation of the yen and soaring prices are still slowing down the overseas travel of Japanese people. According to passport statistics released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, the passport-holding rate among Japanese was only 17.2% in 2012. The number of departures from Japan was also about 13 million, still short of the 20 million who were traveling to Japan before Corona (in 2007).

Nowadays, most of the passengers on international flights to and from Japan are inbound foreigners. However, Korean flights are a different story.

The number of Japanese on Korean flights began to increase immediately after the COVID-19 crisis ended, and even now there are many Japanese on Korean flights, and when walking the streets of Seoul, one can see Japanese everywhere. And the majority of them are women. In December 2012, there were approximately 1.2 million Japanese departing Japan, of which over 250,000, or about a quarter, were from Korea.

I want to learn Korean! Increasing number of Japanese female “exchange students

In the past, the standard trip to Korea was to visit tourist spots such as Myeongdong and Dongdaemun Market in Seoul, go shopping, and taste Korean cuisine such as barbecued meat and bibimbap.

Since the Korean boom of the 2000s, an increasing number of Japanese have traveled to Korea for the purpose of visiting drama locations (pilgrimage to sacred places) and concerts of K-pop groups. Souvenir stores in Myeongdong and duty-free stores at Incheon International Airport were lined with goods of Korean stars and K-pop groups, and many Japanese women bought more than ever before.

A woman who often goes to Korea to promote K-pop groups says that she flies with a low-cost carrier (LCC) and stays mainly at guesthouses, and that “the cost of staying at a hotel is also a waste of money. Another woman, who travels to Korea almost every month, says that this time she made a round trip between Incheon International Airport and Suwon, a regional city, to visit the locations of a TV drama and did not stop in Seoul.

There are also many women who go to Korea, known as a “beauty powerhouse,” every month to receive beauty treatments and buy Korean cosmetics locally. A Japanese longtime resident of Seoul told us that the number of Japanese women studying abroad to learn the Korean language has increased considerably in recent years due to the influence of K-POP and Korean dramas, a phenomenon “unthinkable in the past.

I don’t have any money, but …… “I want to travel abroad!”

Korea is also popular among the relatively lightweight segment of the population who simply want to travel abroad. In addition to the “low total cost of travel,” the main reason is that Korea is close to Japan, making it easy to arrange vacations.

The lowest airfare to Korea is now around 20,000-30,000 yen round-trip. Although the price has risen since before Corona and has remained high, there are many LCCs and flights to and from regional airports, so it is still easy to get to Korea from all parts of Japan. Hotels in the center of Seoul are roughly 10,000 to 15,000 yen per night for a 3-star hotel, and even lower prices can be found during off-season, and guesthouses can be found for 2 to 3,000 yen per night.

Prices have risen since before Corona, but are not as high as in Europe or the U.S. Eating out costs about ³,000, and a cup of coffee at a café is about ³,000. Moreover, the first ride on the subway and buses costs about 140 yen (1,350 won when using an IC card), and cabs are also cheaper than in Japan, making transportation costs less of a burden.

Current overseas travel in Europe and the U.S. costs 400,000-500,000 yen for a week, and in Southeast Asia, 100,000-150,000 yen for four or five days. Compared to this, Korea is much cheaper.

According to JTB’s “Outlook for Travel Trends in 2025 (January-December),” the top three reasons for not traveling abroad are “high travel costs,” “family budget cannot afford it,” and “weak yen. The top three reasons for not traveling abroad are “Cost of travel is too expensive,” “Households cannot afford it,” and “The yen is too cheap,” according to the “Outlook for Travel Trends” (1-12).

Not “popular” for inbound from Europe and the U.S.!

On the other hand, I heard locally the other day that Korea is “not very popular with non-Japanese inbound travelers. Indeed, we do not see as many inbound travelers, especially those from Europe, the U.S., and other countries, as we do in Japan.

One of the reasons for this is the political unrest that is reported at every opportunity, such as the arrest of the current president and large-scale demonstrations. In addition, Korea lacks tourism resources, and the only domestic destinations for Koreans are Busan and Jeju Island.

In addition, there are no hot springs in various parts of the country, no food culture that differs greatly from place to place as in Japan, and no large theme parks such as Tokyo Disney Resort. Some say that while English is highly acceptable, Korean (Hangul) is unintelligible. When asked if they would bother to travel more than 10 hours one way from Europe or the U.S., they say, “One visit is enough.

The Korean government set a goal of 20 million foreign visitors in 2012, but only 16.37 million visited Korea.

The largest number of visitors by country was from China, followed by Japan and Taiwan, and although the number of visitors recovered to 94% of the pre-Corona level (2007), it was not as strong as in Japan. On the other hand, the number of foreign visitors to Japan in 2012 was approximately 37 million, up 15.6% from the pre-Corona level, a record high, according to the Japan National Tourist Organization. This is in contrast to urban areas such as Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka, which are flooded with inbound visitors, and Kyoto and Hakodate, where overtourism (tourism pollution) is also a problem.

Mileage-hungry monks and travelers are targeting “Korea-bound” airline tickets.

The fact that Korea is not as popular as Japan is also reflected in air ticket prices. The reason is that “Tickets from Korea” are cheaper than those from Japan. In fact, this had been the case even before Corona, but after Corona, the number of inbound travelers to Japan surged even further, causing fares to and from Japan to skyrocket.

For example, it is not unusual for round-trip economy class fares to North America to exceed 300,000 yen when flying to/from Japan to be as low as 100,000 yen when flying to/from Korea. The same is true for European destinations.

In fact, there are more than a few Japanese who make good use of this type of ticketing. Although a separate Japan-Korea round-trip ticket is required, it is not difficult to combine the two since there are many LCCs.

For example, if you want to go to New York in the U.S., you can fly to Gimpo, Seoul, and then take an ANA or JAL flight to Gimpo – Haneda – New York and back, and then fly from Gimpo back to Tokyo. In addition, there are many people who fly from Gimpo to Tokyo and back.

It may sound strange, but the fares are sometimes cheaper than a simple round-trip flight from Haneda to New York, and the miles and points earned on the flight can be accumulated. Furthermore, it has been seen in the past that those who are particular about flying in business class, etc., take advantage of overseas ticketing starting in Korea.

In any case, international travel is a leisure activity, and it is difficult to afford it unless you can afford it in your daily life. When choosing the least expensive method and destination, Korea, a neighboring country, is the first choice. According to data from the Korea Tourism Organization, approximately 2.32 million Japanese tourists visited Korea in 2011. Of these, 42% were under 30 years old, indicating the strong popularity of the country, especially among women.