Japan is encouraging Americans to visit with free domestic flights. Here's how to book.

• Japan Airlines is offering free domestic flights to tourists from the US and other select countries.
• Tourists must book round-trip international flights with Japan Airlines to qualify.
• The number of tourists in Tokyo last year reached a record high of 19.54 million.

Japan is a popular spot for tourists , and a new initiative would make it easier and more affordable to visit than ever before.

Japan Airlines is offering free domestic flights to tourists from the US , Canada, Mexico, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand.

The airline said flights would also be available for tourists from Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, India, China, and Taiwan.

To claim the free tickets, passengers must book round-trip international flights with Japan Airlines and domestic flights within Japan in the same reservation.

Travelers from the US, Canada, Mexico, and China who plan to stay in their first destination for more than 24 hours would be charged a $100 layover fee.

A spokesperson for Japan Airlines told Business Insider that "no end date has been set" for the initiative.

The new initiative would make lesser-known cities and towns more accessible.

Grace Cheng, a travel blogger based in New York, previously told BI that tourists visiting Japan often make the mistake of only going to the capital, Tokyo, which doesn't fully represent how broad and diverse the nation's culture is.

Tokyo has become increasingly popular in recent years. The number of international visitors to the city last year reached a record high of 19.54 million , the data-tracking website Statista found.

The value of tourism expenditure by international visitors in 2023 was about 5.31 trillion Japanese yen, roughly $37 billion, the website said.

"Tokyo is not Japan," Cheng said. "And you need to explore the other cities to actually have a sense of what Japan is like."

Cheng recommended visiting Sapporo in the Hokkaido prefecture in the north of Japan. She said it's often more affordable than the capital and has friendly locals.

Meanwhile, Harper's Bazaar Singapore suggested visiting Kanazawa on the east coast of Japan's Honshu island for its Edo-period architecture, historic teahouses, and traditional Japanese artists.

The outlet also named several other popular locations, including Naoshima, an island town in the Seto Inland Sea.