Imagine that, the CPC isn't banning anything, Chinese people themselves are turning away from Japanese travel and products of their own volition.
In addition to this article saying that a lot of Chinese products nowadays are just as good and cheaper than Japanese ones, perhaps its just my algorithm but even before the current tensions a lot of young Chinese travelers always post about their disillusionment with Japan travel on social media. To sum up, the impressions they share is that even if Japan is overall still more wealthy and developed than China, its major cities are really not much different than Tier 1 Chinese cities nowadays. In most of those major cities too there's not much to do outside of eating and shopping. And Japanese food is losing its appeal amongst Chinese since its just raw fish, fried meat cutlets, even most ramen soups are essentially liquified pork or chicken fat with flavored soy sauce. (Thank you! That's all it literally is, its only because of marketing they charge Michelin prices for that shit) Kyoto and Nara have some nice looking temples, but once again its stuff you can find in China as well.
In short, the fascination with Japan always stemmed from its pop culture exports and being the wealthiest Asian nation, so poorer Asian nations looked up to them as an example for how to develop. Today though, take away the appeal of modernity especially as the rest of Asia catches up and Japan isn't all that different from China. I've always had these impressions of Japan tbh and if Chinese want to travel abroad for history they're for sure better off going to Russia, Central Asia, Iran, and Cambodia too if it wasn't for the current crime issues. I'd even throw in India if they can improve sanitation and public safety.
