Japan is rapidly becoming a mainstream destination for Israelis, far beyond the old niche of anime fans. In a Tel Aviv Japanese-language school run by Sigal Yizreali since 2008, the number of students is now about three times higher than in the early years, and the average age has fallen sharply. She says parents now call about lessons for children as young as seven, and even bar mitzvah trips to Japan have become normal. "The Disneyland of before, today it's Japan," she said.
The surge is reflected in official tourism data. According to Japan's tourism ministry, only 14,189 Israelis visited in 2010, and 6,931 in 2011. The figure rose to 59,500 in 2024, jumped to more than 93,000 in 2025, and exceeded 30,000 visits by May 2026. Japanese tourism also hit a record in 2024 with about 37 million visitors, and the government wants to reach 60 million a year by the end of the decade.
Several factors are driving the trend. Yizreali and Yuko Higuchi, who teaches at the school and runs a popular Instagram account with her husband, said Japan has become much cheaper because the yen has weakened, while Israel has become expensive. Higuchi said many Israelis return to Japan repeatedly, first for the standard Tokyo-Kyoto route and later for less touristy places, often through social networks already built by Israelis living there.
The attraction is also cultural. Yizreali said anime, manga, J-pop, and the government-backed "Cool Japan" campaign helped make Japan fashionable and approachable, with its "kawaii" or cute image changing perceptions of the country. Students and visitors describe Japan as a place that feels special and hard to explain until experienced firsthand, while also offering a kind of adult playfulness and escape. One student, former Home Front Command rescue soldier Lihi Zohar of Nahariya, said she plans a three-month trip to understand "what is so fascinating" about it. Another convert, high-tech worker Omri Gilhar, said he started exploring Japan during the coronavirus period and is now on his third trip there.
