The number of foreign visitors to Japan in the first half of this year exceeded 10 million for the first time in four years, with South Koreans accounting for the largest number.
According to the Japan National Tourism Organization on June 19, a total of 10.71 million foreigners visited Japan in the first half of the year, surpassing the 10 million mark for the first time in four years.
In addition, 2.07 million foreigners visited Japan in June, the first time in three and a half years since January 2020 that the number exceeded 2 million on a monthly basis, Kyodo News reported.
Looking at foreign visitors to Japan by country in the first half of the year, South Koreans accounted for the largest number, 3.13 million, or 29.2 percent of all foreign visitors.
They were followed by 1.77 million Taiwanese, 970,000 Americans, and 910,000 Hong Kongers in the first half of the year, while only 590,000 Chinese, who were the most frequent visitors to Japan before COVID-19, came to Japan.
This is likely due to the Chinese government’s continued restrictions on group tours to Japan.
The Japanese government has gradually opened its borders to foreigners since allowing group tours in June last year, 카지노사이트킴 and in October of the same year resumed visa-free travel to 68 countries and regions around the world, including South Korea, which it had suspended due to the spread of COVID-19.