MATSUMOTO, Nagano -- From January through mid-November 2025, some 1,664,900 people visited the Kamikochi resort in the Northern Japan Alps in this central Japan city, according to a municipal survey.

The figure was a 9% increase from that in 2024, marking the first time in 22 years that visitor numbers exceeded 1.6 million.

The Matsumoto Municipal Government attributed the upward trend to a rise in foreign visitors driven by tourism promotion efforts targeting oversea markets as well as information shared on social media that has helped convey Kamikochi's appeal to younger generations.

The number of overnight guests in Kamikochi from April to October 2025 totaled 147,893. Of these, 19,857 were foreign visitors, up 5% from 2024. Tourists from Taiwan accounted for the largest share at 31%, followed by Thailand, Hong Kong and the United States.

To address congestion around the Sawando area parking lots, where shuttle buses to Kamikochi depart from, live cameras and electronic message boards were installed, and congestion information was shared in real time on the official websites of the city and the Ministry of the Environment.

According to the municipal government, traffic jams on National Route 158 occurred only one day in 2025, reaching a maximum length of 3 kilometers, indicating that the countermeasures had the effect of dispersing visitors.

(Japanese original by Hirohito Takeda)