A foreign tourist walks past the tax-free sign banner displayed outside the shop in Kyoto, Japan, on May 25, 2026. (Photo: VCG)

All flights on 25 China-Japan air routes were fully canceled in June and a total of 1,488 flights between the Chinese mainland and Japan were canceled that month, representing a cancelation rate of 37.5 percent, the Global Times learned from flight tracking platform Flight Manager DAST.

The China-Japan routes that saw all flights cancelled in June were mostly Chinese flights to Osaka and Tokyo, as well as flights from Shanghai and other cities to second- and third-tier cities in Japan, the data showed.

For instance, the Beijing Daxing-Osaka Kansai route, which previously operated 90 flights per month, now has zero services. The Shanghai-Okayama and Shenyang-Osaka routes, which previously had 21 and 59 monthly flights, respectively, have also been completely suspended, according to Flight Manager DAST.

The Shanghai-Osaka route recorded the largest number of cancelations in June, with 325 flights canceled throughout June and a cancelation rate of 45.3 percent. Prior to this, services between the Chinese mainland and Osaka's Kansai Airport had consistently been among the busiest China-Japan routes, with a strong share of leisure travelers, which also contributed to the relatively higher cancelation rate, Flight Manager DAST said.

The declining number of flights may be linked to a sharp drop in outbound travel demand to Japan. In May, the number of Chinese mainland tourists visiting Japan fell sharply by 60.4 percent year-on-year, marking the sixth consecutive month with figures below the same period last year, according to media reports, citing Japanese official data.

China-Japan ties have deteriorated after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's erroneous remarks regarding China's Taiwan region. Chinese authorities have also advised Chinese citizens to avoid traveling to Japan, citing constant deterioration of security environment for Chinese nationals in Japan.

The topic about the cancelation of all flights on 25 China-Japan routes quickly trended on Weibo. Some users commented that "cancelations are fine, there are plenty of alternatives," while others noted that if certain inappropriate actions and statements toward China persist, more Chinese tourists may simply stop visiting Japan altogether and that "it will only backfire."

Notably, as the summer travel peak season gets underway, South Korea and Southeast Asian countries are quietly replacing Japan as top popular outbound destinations for Chinese tourists.

In the first half of 2026, Chinese flights to South Korea have surpassed pre-2019 levels, while the flight recovery rate for Thailand reached 64.7 percent, compared with 53.5 percent for flights to Japan, Flight Manager DAST told the Global Times.

Notably, Japan recently announced increases in visa fees for applicants including those from China, while South Korea has stepped up efforts to attract Chinese visitors, as the country's justice ministry announced an extension to the group visa fees waiver for travelers from six countries, including China, through the end of 2026.

A visa service agency told the Global Times that in June, both before and after the visa fee increases in Japan, demand for South Korean visa applications rose, while applications for European visas also increased.

Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that Japan's recent tourism-related measures are undermining its own long-built inbound tourism base, creating a negative cycle of rising travle barriers, declining visitor flows and mounting pressure on its own industry.

Wang noted that as Chinese visitors traveling to Japan have been affected, South Korea absorbed the overflow of short-distance passengers, Europe absorbed the long-distance demand during the summer, and Japan's market share is being redistributed. "Rebuilding trust in the future will require greater costs," Wang said.