The number of foreign tourists visiting Japan topped 10 million for the first time since before the outbreak
TOKYO (Kyodo News Agency) – The number of foreign tourists visiting Japan from January to June this year topped 10 million for the first time since the same period before the 2019 coronavirus pandemic, as the country’s inbound tourists continued to recover, government data showed on Wednesday.
The Japan National Tourism Organization said the number of visitors to Japan during the six-month period was 10.71 million, equivalent to 64.4% of the January-June 2019 level and a sharp jump from 507,630 in the same period in 2022.
Divided by country or region, the largest number of tourists came from South Korea, reaching 3.13 million, followed by Taiwan with 1.77 million, the United States with 972,200 and Hong Kong with 909,700.
According to the report, the number of Chinese inbound tourists who continued to restrict citizens’ group travel abroad remained at 594,600, a recovery of 13.1% from January to June 2019.
In June alone, foreign arrivals reached 2.07 million, surpassing the 2 million mark for the first time since January 2020. Arrivals began to plummet the following month as the epidemic spread.
