Originally Posted by
williamluk
People may not be aware but Chinese government has NOT been issuing (nor renewing) passports to its citizens for tourism since 2020. The only people who can get a passport nowadays are those able to prove they need to make necessary biz trip or students for overseas study. I seriously doubt there are much Chinese tourists in Japan. Chinese shoppers you saw are probably residents.
Resident shoppers that stayed away from shopping for 2 years, and suddenly show up in high numbers?
While the Chinese government may not have been issuing new passports, they probably did not void the existing ones? And since they need to get a business trip visa to enter Japan, probably not too difficult to document a business trip for a necessary renewal?