Jun 03 (NHK) - The number of foreign tourists who traveled on cruise ships to Japan hit a record high in 2016, thanks mainly to more budget tours from China.
The transport ministry says 1.992 million travelers visited Japan by cruise ship. That's up 78.5 percent, or more than 870,000 people, from the level the previous year.
The ministry attributes the surge to a greater number of Chinese budget travelers and the availability of larger ships.
The number of calls at 123 ports across the nation totaled 2,017. That was also a record high.
Fukuoka Prefecture's Hakata port received the most calls -- 328, followed by Nagasaki port's 197 and Naha port's 193.
