The estimated number of foreign visitors to Japan in August jumped 16.9% from a year before to 3,428,000, a record high for the month, the Japan National Tourism Organization said Wednesday.
The latest figure topped 3 million for the first time for the month of August, thanks to an increase in travelers during school holidays. The tally was pushed higher by visitors from mainland China, Taiwan, Vietnam and the United States.
Meanwhile, the number of visitors from Hong Kong, where rumors of a possible earthquake in Japan spread on social media, decreased from a year before for the fourth consecutive month.
By country or region, mainland China had the largest number of visitors to Japan, at 1,018,600, up 36.5%, followed by South Korea at 660,900, up 8.0%, Taiwan at 620,700, up 10.0%, and Hong Kong at 226,100, down 8.3%.
The cumulative number of visitors from mainland China in the January-August period exceeded 6.71 million, surging 46.1%.
“An increase in the number of seats on flights and the cheap yen have contributed to this,” Japan Tourism Agency chief Shigeki Murata said. “Travel demand is high among young people in their 20s to 40s and families.”
“We will mainly target people in their 20s to 40s and encourage repeat visitors and high-income earners to travel to Japan and regional areas,” Murata said.
Also in August, the estimated number of Japanese nationals traveling overseas rose 14.7% to 1,648,300.
AloJapan.com