Domestic Travel Tops Leisure Activities for Japan in 2022

A survey conducted by the Japan Productivity Center on how people spend their leisure time shows that 42.8% of the respondents went on a domestic sightseeing trip (including day trips) in 2022, which is 10.0 percentage points higher than the previous year. This is the first time since 2019 that sightseeing within Japan was the top leisure activity. Domestic sightseeing fell to fourth place in 2020 and sunk further to sixth place the following year, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. But domestic travel recovered in 2022, buoyed by the easing of travel restrictions.

Dining out remained in fourth place, but the percentage rose year on year by 2.4 points, to 35.8%. Other activities showing increased popularity included going out for a drive, at 34.6%, and visiting a shopping mall at 27.2%. A comparison with the top 10 results for the previous year shows that more people are inclined to go out of the home for their leisure activities. Even so, back in 2019, just prior to the pandemic, the percentage of those taking a sightseeing trip within Japan was 54.3%, which is more than 10 points higher than in 2022.

The survey was conducted online from February to March 2023, with a total of 3,306 respondents across Japan.

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)