Tourism EXPO Japan 2025 Aichi, Chubu & Hokuriku: Japan’s Largest Travel & Tourism Event—History and the First Aichi Edition at a Glance

Tourism EXPO Japan 2025 Aichi, Chubu & Hokuriku will be held for the first time in Aichi at Aichi Sky Expo from September 25–28, 2025. As Japan’s largest and one of the world’s leading comprehensive tourism events, this year’s edition adopts the theme “Rediscovering the Wisdom of Travel.” Positioned to drive tourism across the wider Chubu–Hokuriku region, support Hokuriku’s recovery, and reinforce the international hub function of Chubu Centrair International Airport, it is a marquee industry event to watch. This article outlines the event’s overview and history in clear, practical terms.

Tourism EXPO Japan 2025 Aichi, Chubu & Hokuriku: Overview

Event Basics and Theme

The official title is “Tourism EXPO Japan 2025 Aichi, Chubu & Hokuriku.” The event will run for four days from Thursday, September 25 to Sunday, September 28, 2025, at Aichi Sky Expo. The first two days (September 25–26) are designated as Industry Days for travel, tourism, and MICE professionals; the latter two days (September 27–28) are Public Days for general visitors. Aichi Sky Expo is directly connected to Chubu Centrair International Airport, offering excellent access from both within Japan and overseas.

This year’s theme, “Rediscovering the Wisdom of Travel,” promotes the value of deeper, more intellectually engaging travel experiences that go beyond simply visiting destinations—encouraging encounters with new knowledge, cultures, and perspectives. The event is hosted by three organizations leading Japan’s tourism sector: the Japan Travel and Tourism Association, the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA), and the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO).

Official Website https://www.t-expo.jp/en

Attendance Goals, Business Targets, and Co-located VJTM

The event targets a total of 100,000 visitors—34,000 on Industry Days and 66,000 on Public Days. Business meetings are targeted at 5,500+, with 1,100 booths planned.

Japan’s largest inbound business-matching fair, VISIT JAPAN Travel & MICE Mart 2025 (VJTM), will be held concurrently to drive intensive matchmaking between overseas travel companies (buyers) and domestic tourism operators (sellers).

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The Grand Festival of Travel: The Trajectory of Tourism EXPO Japan

Origins and Early Growth

Tourism EXPO Japan (TEJ) launched in 2014 as one of the world’s leading, large-scale comprehensive tourism events, with the aim of further invigorating the tourism industry. It brought together two previously separate fairs—the domestic travel fair “Tabi Fair” and the “JATA Tourism EXPO Japan,” which focused on outbound and inbound travel—creating a unified, All-Japan platform to promote Japanese tourism at home and abroad. Positioned as part of a national strategy to make tourism a pillar of economic growth and strengthen Japan’s competitiveness in the global market, the inaugural 2014 edition in Tokyo attracted approximately 158,000 visitors and got off to a stellar start. In 2018, visitor numbers reached a record high of about 207,000, marking rapid expansion.

Visitor Numbers (2014–2024)

2014 (Tokyo): 157,589
2015 (Tokyo): 173,602
2016 (Tokyo): 185,844
2017 (Tokyo): 191,577
2018 (Tokyo): 207,352
2019 (Osaka): 151,099
2020 (Okinawa): 24,174
2021: Canceled
2022 (Tokyo): 124,074
2023 (Osaka): 148,062
2024 (Tokyo): 182,934

Host Cities and Recovery from the Pandemic

While TEJ was initially centered in Tokyo, the event adopted a “regional hosting strategy,” expanding to Osaka for the first time in 2019 and to Okinawa in 2020. The 2020 Okinawa edition, however, was scaled down due to COVID-19, drawing about 24,000 visitors, and the 2021 edition was postponed (effectively canceled) amid the global pandemic—a major test for the event.

Post-pandemic, TEJ returned to Tokyo in 2022 and welcomed roughly 124,000 visitors, signaling recovery. Osaka 2023 saw about 148,000 attendees, and Tokyo 2024 drew around 183,000—approaching pre-COVID levels of activity. The first-ever Aichi, Chubu & Hokuriku edition in 2025 represents the culmination of this regional hosting strategy.

Significance of Hosting in Aichi, Chubu & Hokuriku

An International Showcase for the “Shoryudo Project”

The selection of Aichi, Chubu & Hokuriku as the 2025 host is driven by a clear objective: wide-area revitalization across the Chubu–Hokuriku region. “Shoryudo”—a tourism route stretching from the Chubu region up through Hokuriku like a rising dragon—spans nine prefectures: Aichi, Gifu, Nagano, Shizuoka, Mie, Shiga, Toyama, Ishikawa, and Fukui. Despite its abundance of tourism resources, the area has historically seen less inbound circulation compared with the Tokyo and Kansai metropolitan areas. By bringing TEJ to the region, organizers aim to deliver the largest-ever international promotion opportunity for the Shoryudo Project and to spark wide-area touring that will significantly boost the regional economy. At TEJ 2025, the nine prefectures will, for the first time, mount a joint pavilion to showcase their diverse cultural, natural, culinary, and experiential assets to the world.

Supporting Hokuriku’s Recovery and Strengthening Centrair’s Hub Role

The timing also aligns with the 20th anniversary of Chubu Centrair International Airport (Centrair) in 2025. Staging a global event connected directly to the airport at Aichi Sky Expo offers a prime opportunity to spotlight Centrair’s convenience and potential to the international community, with the goal of expanding both inbound and outbound demand via this hub. The event is expected to catalyze new air-route development, increase passenger volumes, and contribute to a more multipolar gateway network for Japan.

Organizers have also stated that TEJ 2025 will be held with an eye to the Hokuriku Shinkansen extension and to supporting recovery from recent natural disasters in the Hokuriku region—helping restore visitor flows and dispel harmful rumors through the platform of TEJ.

Aichi’s Appeal as a MICE Hub

Beyond manufacturing, Aichi Prefecture is actively pursuing tourism and MICE attraction. A host-city liaison council comprising local governments, business groups, and transport operators has been formed to provide comprehensive support. The venue, Aichi Sky Expo, opened in 2019 and is a state-of-the-art large-scale convention facility directly connected to Chubu Centrair International Airport. With five exhibition halls, a suite of conference rooms, and over 60,000 square meters of event space, it ranks among Japan’s largest.

Nagoya City also offers major facilities such as the Nagoya Congress Center and Port Messe Nagoya, while the region boasts one of the largest hotel room inventories in the Tokai area—together forming a robust infrastructure for large-scale conferences and exhibitions. This powerful combination—diverse tourism assets, high accessibility, and a full complement of MICE venues—underscores why the Aichi, Chubu & Hokuriku region stands to benefit greatly from showcasing its strengths on the TEJ stage to audiences at home and abroad.

MICE TIMES ONLINE to Release Coverage of Aichi Sky Expo and TEJ 2025

Tourism EXPO Japan 2025 Aichi, Chubu & Hokuriku is more than a festival of travel; it is a strategic event poised to open up the future of Japan’s tourism industry. On this new stage in Aichi, Chubu & Hokuriku, and under the theme “Rediscovering Knowledge through Travel,” the event is expected to advance multiple goals, including regional revitalization, recovery in Hokuriku, and the promotion of MICE.

Bringing together tourism stakeholders from Japan and overseas—as well as general travel enthusiasts—this major event will spark new business opportunities and discoveries. MICE TIMES ONLINE plans to deliver coverage of Aichi’s appeal as a MICE host destination, along with on-the-ground reports from the event.

Note: The photos in this article were taken by our editorial team at TEJ 2024 last year.