1.82 mil. foreigners visit Japan in August, 2nd most ever

The latest monthly figure of 1,817,100 brings the estimated total so far this year to 12,875,400, approaching the annual total of 13.41 million in 2014, which was a record high, showed the data released by the Japan National Tourism Organization. By nationality, Chinese visitors increased 133.1 percent to 591,500, topping the 500,000 mark for the second consecutive month and the biggest figure ever for a single month. The rise of Chinese visitors is put down to the weaker yen, the summer break, the launch of new flight services and port calls from many cruise ships. Visitors from South Korea and Taiwan totaled 391,000 and 313,900, respectively, up 55.5 percent and 36.6 percent, the data showed. The Japanese government aims to increase the arrival of foreign visitors to 20 million by 2020 when Tokyo will host the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Source: Kyodo