Japan has record high tourism in January

A record high number of foreign tourists visited Japan in January, mainly due to a weaker yen. Officials at the Japan National Tourism Organization say over 1.85 million people visited Japan last month. That’s up 52 percent from a year earlier. The largest number of tourists came from South Korea, at 514,900. The figure was up 43.8 percent from the previous year and exceeded 500,000 for the first time. Visitors from mainland China increased just over 2-fold, to 475,000. Those from Taiwan totaled 321,000, up 47.9 percent. The officials attribute the rise to the weak yen and holidays at many Asian schools in January. The officials say more tourists than expected have been visiting Japan this year. They add that despite China’s slowing economy, travel agencies are reporting increasing tourism in February. The officials say the number of Chinese tourists shows no sign of declining.   Source and image: NHK...