Statistics Regarding International Conferences held in Japan in 2016
Japan hosted a record-breaking number of international conferences and of overseas attendees which surpassed 200,000
- According to a survey by the Japanese National Tourism Organization (JNTO) of all organizations in Japan that promote conventions, in 2016 the total number of international congresses held in Japan (*1) reached 3,121. This is 274 more than the previous year, showing a 9.6％growth.
- Analysis of city-by-city results indicated that Tokyo (574) is ranked number one, with Fukuoka (383) in second and Kyoto (278) in third.
- Cities such as Kobe, Kyoto and Osaka that are part of the governmental Global MICE Cities program – a program supporting cities in increasing their competitiveness for attracting international conferences - showed a significant increase in the number of conferences from the previous year. （Annex 2）.On the other hand, the number of congresses held in Sendai has significantly fallen from the previous year, when the UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction brought many related congresses to the area.
Number of Participants
- The total number of participants in International Congresses held in Japan was of 1,861,000, showing a 5.3% rise（940,000 participants）. The number of overseas attendees was 214,000, showing a 22.3% rise（39,000 participants）, and surpassing 200,000 for the first time.
- The congress with most attendees from overseas was “The 99th Lions International Convention”*, held in Fukuoka in June 2016, with 12,000 participants from overseas. *This is the annual meeting of the Lions Club, an international organization for community service, headquartered in Chicago.
Summary
- With the collaboration of public and private parties in the Global MICE Cities programme, the MICE segment is progressing steadily. As a long term goal, JNTO aims “to establish a permanent status as the No.1 Asian country in number of international conferences hosted by 2030”. To achieve this, JNTO is implementing different strategies, including a new global branding campaign, and diverse forms of support to cities, to strengthen their promotional activities and help attract more international congresses to different parts of the country.
*1 JNTO criterion for International Congresses is as stated below.
- 1) The organizer is an international organization or association (with branches in different countries), or is a national or domestic organization (referring to organizations that are not private enterprises）
- 2) The total number of delegates is above 50.
- 3) There are delegates from at least 3 countries participating, including Japan.
- 4) The duration of the event is at least 1 day.
Numbers of International Congresses held in Japan（2007-2016）
Ranking by city with total number of conferences （2012-2016）
| Rank | 2012 | No. | 2013 | No. | 2014 | No. | 2015 | No. | 2016 | No. |
| 1st | Tokyo City* | 500 | Tokyo City* | 531 | Tokyo City* | 543 | Tokyo City* | 557 | Tokyo City* | 574 |
| 2nd | Fukuoka City | 252 | Fukuoka City | 253 | Fukuoka City | 336 | Fukuoka City | 363 | Fukuoka City | 383 |
| 3rd | Kyoto City | 196 | Yokohama City | 226 | Kyoto City | 202 | Sendai City | 221 | Kyoto City | 278 |
| 4th | Yokohama City | 191 | Kyoto City | 176 | Yokohama City | 200 | Kyoto City | 218 | Kobe City | 260 |
| 5th | Osaka City | 140 | Osaka City | 172 | Nagoya City | 163 | Yokohama City | 190 | Nagoya City | 203 |
| 6th | Nagoya City | 126 | Nagoya City | 143 | Osaka City | 130 | Nagoya City | 178 | Yokohama City | 189 |
| 7th | Senri Area | 113 | Senri Area | 113 | Senri Area | 104 | Osaka City | 139 | Osaka City | 180 |
| 8th | Kobe City | 92 | Kobe City | 93 | Sapporo City | 101 | Kobe City | 113 | Sendai City | 115 |
| 9th | Sendai City | 81 | Sapporo City | 89 | Kobe City | 82 | Sapporo City | 107 | Sapporo City | 115 |
| 10th | Sapporo City | 61 | Sendai City | 77 | Sendai City | 80 | Senri Area | 94 | Kitakyushu City | 105 |
| 11th | Tsukuba Area | 53 | Kitakyushu City | 57 | Kitakyushu City | 73 | Kitakyushu City | 86 | Senri Area(**) | 85 |
| 12th | Kitakyushu City | 45 | Tsukuba Area | 51 | Tsukuba Area | 66 | Hiroshima City | 59 | Hiroshima City | 76 |
| 13th | Hiroshima City | 37 | Hiroshima City | 50 | Hiroshima City | 50 | Tsukuba Area | 53 | Tsukuba Area(***) | 50 |
| 14th | Chiba City | 32 | Nara City | 31 | Nara City | 45 | Nara City | 36 | Chiba City | 43 |
| 15th | Nara City | 30 | Chiba City | 28 | Okayama City | 33 | Okayama City | 33 | Nara City | 39 |
（*）Tokyo City： 23 special wards only
（**）Senri Area： Cities of Toyonaka, Suita, Ibaragi, Takatsuki and Minoh, in Osaka City Prefecture
（***）Tsukuba Area： Cities of Tsukuba and Tsuchiura, in Ibaraki prefecture.
Total number of participants of international congresses held in Japan（2007-2016）, including numbers of overseas and local participants.
