Is Chinese Bagukai ending in Japan?

File photo shows geishas teach tourists how to perform traditional Taiko drum during an event on July 13, 2011 in Awara city, Fukui prefecture, Japan. [Photo/VCG]

Japan's tourism authority said that the average spendings of Chinese tourists in the country dropped to 102,000 yen ($980 dollars) in the third quarter.

The number is down some 19 percent compared to the same season of 2015, the first year-on drop over the past five years.

The Chinese spending in Japan has also been on a decreasing trend since this Q1, according to official statistics.

However, the number of Chinese visitors to Japan has kept growing, with 7 million trips expected to make for the whole year, said China National Tourism Administration.

A report from the Guangzhou Daily is suggesting the so-called bagukai or "explosive shopping" spree may have come to an end.

The Japan Tourism Agency is also saying that Chinese visitors' shopping haibits have changed.

Instead of brand products and appliances, they are starting to focus on recreational activities, cosmetics and food.

The Guangzhou Daily quoted someone from a Matsuzakaya department store saying "Chinese costumers are no longer after luxury goods like last year. They now prefer Made-in-Japan products."

Chinese bagukai has been under the spotlight since 2015, when the spending peaked at 170,000 yen (about $1,600) in Q1, according to data released by the Japan Tourism Agency.

The average spendings of a Chinese tourist in the second season of 2015 was around 232,900 yen (about $2,300), ranked first among inbound tourism spending in Japan.

The newspaper also attributed higher tariff when going through Chinese customs and the appreciation of the Japanese yen to the decrease in spending.