"If You Go to Japan, You Have to Buy This"... Koreans Completely Captivated

Korean Tourists Prefer Snacks, Chinese Tourists Choose Beauty Products, Americans Favor Clothing
Snacks Top the List Across All Countries for "Best Value for Money"

A recent survey has found that the choice of souvenirs purchased by foreign tourists visiting Japan differs by nationality. Among Koreans, snacks were the most commonly purchased items.

Japanese advertising company Hakuhodo released the results of a survey conducted among 258 tourists each from Korea, China, the United States, Thailand, and India who had visited Japan within the past year, examining the items they purchased.

The results showed that, overall, the most commonly purchased items by foreign tourists were snacks (49.8%), followed by cosmetics and beauty products (46.2%), and food items (42.9%). For Korean tourists, snacks ranked first (66.7%), followed by food items (54.3%) and cosmetics and beauty products (53.4%). All three categories were above the overall average. In contrast, clothing purchases were low at 10.9%.

Foreign tourists visiting Japan purchased snacks the most. Photo by Pixabay

On the other hand, among Chinese tourists, only 29.5% purchased snacks, while cosmetics and beauty products (44.6%), character goods (37.2%), and clothing (32.6%) were more popular.

For American tourists, clothing was the top purchase (48.4%), followed by food items (45.7%) and snacks (43.0%). The purchase rates for clothing, personal care products (29.5%), and traditional crafts (29.1%) were above the overall average.

When asked about items they did not buy on this trip but would like to purchase on their next visit, jewelry and accessories ranked first among all respondents at 18.1%. This was followed by bags (17.5%), traditional crafts (16.4%), health supplements (16.1%), and miscellaneous goods (14.2%).

Among Korean respondents, bags and jewelry/accessories (each 17.4%) shared the top spot, with health supplements (15.9%) in second place. The item Koreans most wanted to continue purchasing after returning home was snacks (46.5%), followed by food items (31.4%) and alcoholic beverages (27.1%).

Snacks also ranked first as the "item people want to keep buying" in the overall average across all countries (35.5%). High satisfaction with quality and price was cited as a key reason for their popularity.