Koshinetsu, from the Mountains to the Sea of Japan: What Kind of Trip Would You Like to Take?
Koshinetsu is the name used for a region comprising Niigata, Yamanashi, and Nagano prefectures in the central part of Honshu, Japan’s main island.
Views of Mount Fuji and highlands surrounded by mountains. Coastlines along the Sea of Japan and hot spring towns covered in snow. A variety of landscapes stretches from the coast to the mountains.
You might walk in nature or relax in a hot spring. In winter, you can also enjoy a skiing trip.
If you have been here before, think of the hotels or other places you stayed. If you are planning a visit, imagine somewhere you would like to stay.
Take a moment to picture your own journey.
How have Koshinetsu’s hotels and ryokan—traditional Japanese inns—changed through the pandemic?
We will compare guest nights in 2019, before the pandemic; 2021, during it; and 2025, after it, through a map and a data card.
As a way to get to know Koshinetsu, shall we explore together how its hotels and ryokan have changed?
Explore Hotels and Ryokan in Koshinetsu on the Map
Select a prefecture on the map to see total guest nights, the share accounted for by foreign nationals, establishments, guest rooms, room occupancy, and other figures. Switch between 2019, 2021, and 2025 to compare changes through the pandemic.
You can also search by prefecture name, use voice search, or move to other regions using the buttons at the bottom of the screen.
Start with a prefecture you have visited or somewhere you would like to go.
How Have Guest Nights Changed in Koshinetsu?
Total guest nights in Koshinetsu’s three prefectures fell from 38,055,330 in 2019 to 22,164,110 in 2021. They then rose to 39,189,070 in 2025.
The recovery rate for 2025 compared with 2019 was 103.0%. Across Koshinetsu as a whole, guest nights were slightly above the pre-pandemic level.
Guest nights for foreign nationals also exceeded the 2019 level, and their share of total guest nights increased.
Across Koshinetsu’s three prefectures, both the number of hotels and ryokan and the number of guest rooms were slightly below their fiscal 2019 levels.
Switch between the data card’s tabs to see the breakdown of guest nights, establishments and guest rooms, and licenses issued and closures across the lodging industry as a whole. Comparing the card with the map reveals differences between the figures for Koshinetsu as a whole and those for each prefecture.
What I Noticed While Making the Map
In Koshinetsu, some prefectures had more guest nights than before the pandemic, while room occupancy remained lower. In another prefecture, the reverse was true: guest nights remained lower, while room occupancy was higher.
Guest nights for foreign nationals increased in all three prefectures, but the scale of change differed. The changes in each area look different depending on which measure you explore.
From places you remember to places you would like to visit next.
Shall we explore how hotels and ryokan in Koshinetsu have changed, moving between the map and the data card?
Sources: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Report on Public Health Administration and Services; Japan Tourism Agency, Accommodation Survey.
- Accommodation figures cover the calendar years 2019, 2021, and 2025 (January–December).
- Figures for establishments, guest rooms, licenses issued, and closures cover fiscal years 2019, 2021, and 2024.
- Guest nights count each guest for each night of their stay. One person staying for three nights counts as three guest nights.
- The maps and data cards use the Japanese labels “日本人” (“Japanese”) and “外国人” (“foreign nationals”) to reflect the statistical categories. Guest nights for Japanese nationals are calculated by subtracting guest nights for foreign nationals from total guest nights.
- The recovery rate is calculated as total guest nights in 2025 ÷ total guest nights in 2019 × 100.