Society | Feb 22

Number of foreign visitors to Japan rises 9% to 2.5 million in January

Feb 22 (Japan Times) - The estimated number of foreign visitors for January rose 9 percent from a year earlier to 2,501,500, a record for the month, the Japan Tourism Agency said Wednesday.

But the growth rate was the slowest since last March partly because the Lunar New Year, a major holiday season celebrated in China and elsewhere, which began later this year. The holiday period started in late January a year ago.

“We had expected the possibility of a drop in the number but it turned out solid. It is a good start” to the year, Akihiko Tamura, commissioner of the agency, said at a news conference.

Over the Lunar New Year holidays in February, Tamura said many travelers from China chose to visit snowy areas such as Hokkaido, the Tohoku region and Niigata Prefecture.

By country and region, visitors from South Korea ranked first at 803,800, up 28.5 percent from a year earlier, likely due to an increase in low-cost carrier flights.

Visitors from China came second at 632,300, up 0.3 percent, followed by those from Taiwan at 350,500, down 0.1 percent, and Hong Kong at 160,500, a drop of 13.5 percent. The number of visitors from the latter two regions also fell in part due to the timing of the Lunar New Year.


MORE Society NEWS

There have been multiple reports of a mysterious black animal in downtown Tokyo, with the enigmatic creature captured on video looking around nervously before noticing the camera and staring it down for about 15 seconds, then running away.

A former host admitted to knowingly receiving approximately 25 million yen that had been deceitfully obtained by convicted scammer "Riri-chan," in a trial held on April 23.

Osaka City has issued an administrative order to stop feeding pigeons and crows following continuous complaints about droppings and noise.

POPULAR NEWS

Japanese company Smile-Up, the former talent agency known as Johnny & Associates, says it has sent a letter of protest to Britain's public broadcaster BBC over its program on sexual abuse by its late founder. (NHK)

A private organization has revealed that approximately 40% of the national municipalities, totaling 744, could potentially disappear by 2050 due to declining populations.

Youngsters in Japan are enthusiastically embracing the world of cosmetics, with a recent survey reporting some 60% of elementary students own some form of makeup.

Major American IT companies like Microsoft and Oracle have announced substantial investments totalling 4 trillion yen ($26 billion) in data centers in Japan, sparking concerns about digital sovereignty and AI development.

A former host admitted to knowingly receiving approximately 25 million yen that had been deceitfully obtained by convicted scammer "Riri-chan," in a trial held on April 23.

FOLLOW US