{"id":177805,"date":"2026-05-22T10:34:06","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T01:34:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/?post_type=news&#038;p=177805&#038;lang=en"},"modified":"2026-05-22T10:34:06","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T01:34:06","slug":"yame-leads-kyushu-in-foreign-tourism-growth","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/news\/yame-leads-kyushu-in-foreign-tourism-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"Yame Leads Kyushu in Foreign Tourism Growth"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Yame City in southern Fukuoka Prefecture recorded the highest growth rate of foreign tourists in Kyushu in 2025, according to data released by Navitime Japan. The increase has been driven largely by global demand for matcha and tea tourism. Visitors from countries including Norway, Hong Kong, South Korea, and the United States traveled to Yame to experience local tea culture and visit tea farms and cafes. Tea producer Oishi Tea Garden said exports have increased tenfold over the past decade, with products now shipped to 47 countries and regions. Growing international demand for matcha has also shifted production toward tencha, the raw material used for matcha, while reducing sencha output. Producers said the trend has raised green tea prices but also created new opportunities for exports and tourism. <strong>Source:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tvq.co.jp\/news\/news.html?did=2026052000000006\" target=\"_blank\">TVQ News<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/release.nikkei.co.jp\/attach\/703976\/02_202603051730.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Nikkei<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/fnn_acphoto-yame-city-white-wall-housings_2026_cl.jpg?resize=900%2C675&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"675\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-177806\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/fnn_acphoto-yame-city-white-wall-housings_2026_cl.jpg?w=900&amp;ssl=1 900w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/fnn_acphoto-yame-city-white-wall-housings_2026_cl.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/fnn_acphoto-yame-city-white-wall-housings_2026_cl.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><br \/>\nPhoto: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.photo-ac.com\/main\/detail\/30941919&#038;title=%E5%85%AB%E5%A5%B3%E3%80%80%E8%A1%97%E4%B8%A6%E3%81%BF%E3%80%80%E5%8F%A4%E6%B0%91%E5%AE%B6#goog_rewarded\" target=\"_blank\">AC Photo<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Stay informed with the latest Fukuoka &#038; Kyushu news and events in English. Sign up for our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/mailmagazine\/\">free weekly newsletter<\/a> today and never miss a beat. Opt out anytime, your privacy is our priority. Get the inside scoop with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/mailmagazine\/\">The Now<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Summaries based on public content, errors may occur during translation. Images credited independently. Send feedback using <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/contact\/\">this <strong>form<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yame City in southern Fukuoka Prefecture recorded the highest growth rate of foreign tourists in Kyushu in 2025, according to data released by Navitime&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30292,"featured_media":177806,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[],"class_list":["post-177805","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","location-yame","news-category-travel-tourism","en-US"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/177805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30292"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177805"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}