Five Japanese Prefectures Beat the National Occupancy Rate While Foreign Demand Still Grows (May 2026)A · FULL TRANSLATION
- Screen unchanged: overall occupancy at or above the national 61.0% and positive year-on-year growth in foreign guest nights. Five prefectures passed in May 2026
- Ehime 64.1% occupancy (+6.5pt) with foreign guest nights +47.6%; Saitama 68.3% (+3.4pt) / +23.9%; Toyama 66.6% (+5.0pt) / +22.3%; Kanagawa 66.1% (+2.2pt) / +17.1%; Ishikawa 66.4% (+3.5pt) / +4.6%
- Six passed in April: Ehime, Toyama, Shiga, Ishikawa, Kanagawa and Okinawa. Shiga and Okinawa dropped out; Saitama entered
- Ehime and Toyama are the only two prefectures to clear the screen in consecutive periods
- At the other end: high occupancy with falling foreign demand — Tokyo 77.9% / -9.8%, Osaka 72.8% / -16.8%, Kyoto 72.0% / -15.9%, Fukuoka 71.7% / -12.7%, Chiba 67.4% / -3.7%
This series runs the same screen every period: prefectures whose overall room occupancy is at or above the national average and whose foreign guest nights are still growing. Last month, on April data (59.1% occupancy, -10.8% foreign), six passed: Ehime, Toyama, Shiga, Ishikawa, Kanagawa and Okinawa. With May's second preliminary the bar rose to 61.0% and -9.0%, and five passed.
Ehime posted 64.1% occupancy, up 6.5 points, with foreign guest nights up 47.6% — the strongest growth in the country and a second consecutive appearance. Saitama (68.3%, +23.9%) is new but records only 29,160 foreign guest nights, a Tokyo spillover rather than tourism strength of its own. Toyama (66.6%, +22.3%) clears for a second period. Kanagawa (66.1%, +17.1%) is the most substantive name: at 463,850 guest nights it is larger than the other four combined and the only major market still growing. Ishikawa (66.4%, +4.6%) holds above the national line.
Two dropped out. Shiga slipped to 60.6% occupancy, just under the bar, with foreign growth down to +3.1%. Okinawa, which scraped through in April at +0.1%, turned negative at -2.2%.
The contrast group — high occupancy, falling foreign demand — is Tokyo 77.9% / -9.8%, Osaka 72.8% / -16.8%, Kyoto 72.0% / -15.9%, Fukuoka 71.7% / -12.7% and Chiba 67.4% / -3.7%. Osaka's occupancy fell 9.2 points year on year, the steepest drop nationwide, while Tokyo actually gained 0.4 points despite the same Chinese demand shock — a clear read on which market has the more diversified demand base.
Japan Tourism Agency, 31 July 2026 — source data underlying this screen, from the Overnight Travel Statistics Survey (May 2026 second preliminary):
Room occupancy. The overall rate was 61.0% in May 2026, down 0.7 points year on year. Tokyo recorded the highest overall occupancy nationwide at 77.9%. Prefectures above 80% occupancy numbered one for resort hotels (zero a year earlier), two for business hotels (four) and one for city hotels (three).
Overall occupancy by prefecture, May 2026 (%): national 61.0, Hokkaido 55.1, Aomori 55.1, Iwate 51.6, Miyagi 57.2, Ibaraki 57.3, Tochigi 56.8, Saitama 68.3, Chiba 67.4, Tokyo 77.9, Kanagawa 66.1, Niigata 43.9, Toyama 66.6, Ishikawa 66.4, Fukui 49.4, Nagano 40.9, Gifu 57.2, Shizuoka 55.1, Aichi 65.8, Mie 57.1, Shiga 60.6, Kyoto 72.0, Osaka 72.8, Hyogo 57.8, Nara 60.6, Shimane 60.2, Hiroshima 67.4, Yamaguchi 60.3, Kagawa 58.3, Ehime 64.1, Kochi 58.2, Fukuoka 71.7, Nagasaki 58.0, Kumamoto 56.4, Kagoshima 51.8, Okinawa 56.7.
Foreign guest nights, May 2026, year on year: national -9.0%. Prefectures referenced in this screen: Ehime 74,300 (+47.6%), Saitama 29,160 (+23.9%), Toyama 67,300 (+22.3%), Kanagawa 463,850 (+17.1%), Ishikawa 236,060 (+4.6%), Shiga 29,060 (+3.1%), Okinawa 779,920 (-2.2%), Chiba 372,350 (-3.7%), Tokyo 4,944,510 (-9.8%), Fukuoka 713,850 (-12.7%), Kyoto 1,501,730 (-15.9%), Osaka 1,930,040 (-16.8%).
Notes: June 2026 figures are first preliminary and may be revised on 31 August 2026. Year-on-year differences are measured against final values. From the January 2026 survey the stratification variable changed from employee count to room count, so year-on-year comparisons may include a methodology effect.