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Record number of foreigners visit Japan this year

16 Comments

The Japanese government said Wednesday the number of foreigners visiting the country has already surpassed a previous full-year record thanks to a weak yen, looser visa rules and receding worries over the Fukushima disaster.

About 8.66 million people traveled to Japan through October, already higher than the previous record of 8.61 million in all of 2010, according to figures released by the Japan National Tourism Organization.

The agency credited a sharp decline in the yen since late last year -- boosting visitors' purchasing power -- and fading fears over the tsunami-sparked nuclear crisis which began in March 2011. Visitor numbers plummeted after the worst atomic accident in a generation.

A loosening of restrictions on visitors from Southeast Asian nations helped boost the year-to-date figures, the agency said.

Japan also logged a 74% jump in October arrivals from China compared with a year earlier.

Travel between the Asian giants took a big hit last year when a territorial row sparked riots in China and a consumer boycott of Japanese products.

Officials are hoping that Tokyo's hosting of the 2020 Summer Olympics will help Japan's tourism push.

© (c) 2013 AFP

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

16 Comments
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Thanks to a weak yen or thanks to a stronger China economy?

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Thanks to a weak yen? Why is the government and media giving the false impression that the yen is weak? about three years ago the yen was about 105 to the dollar.5 years ago it was 110 to the dollar.The yen has lost some of its speculative power in the past year.Other economies are getting stronger and more people in those countries have a higher disposable income,that's it.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

Get the black vans out!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

When I ask visitors about their first impressions, I'm frequently given comments to the effect that Japanese sure love their cell phones, to the exclusion of all other things.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

A breakdown of the origin of foreign arrivals would help.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

A loosening of restrictions on visitors from Southeast Asian nations helped boost the year-to-date figures, the agency said.

What proportion of these people were migrant labourers?

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Record number of foreigners visit Japan this year... The agency credited a sharp decline in the yen since late last year--boosting visitors

What a wrong conclusion. If this is true then what happened to export figure? It should be going up.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

So it's thanks to a weak yen, while at the same time the prime minister Abe says the economy is strong enough to support the tax increase.

Something is fishy here.(And it's not the fish)

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Good news, things should only get better as get closer to the olympics.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Anywhere else, the header would be a nice, vague one, like,

"Record number of visitors to Japan this year".

Or even,"Record number of tourists visit Japan this year".

But that doesn't clarify that the visitors and tourists aren't Japanese. I hope that the press continues to focus on the foreignness of people coming to Japan, especially as the Olympics draw nearer.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Many are coming in from China because it's cheap to fly to Japan from Beijing and Shanghai by Chinese standards. Question is, what about tourists from Europe, Australia/New Zealand and North America?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Stroll through Ginza and you will hear and see tourists from all over.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

This is a really good news. It's time that we get more tourists from China and South East Asia. I think Japan really needs more of these people to come here and even stay and live here. Ideally it would be great to have a society in Japan with lots of Chinese, a community of Vietnamese and Filipino too. Japan is a great country but cannot call itself truly great until many foreigners come to live here, create their own little communities like China-Town, etc. Also all these tourists contribute to the economy and as everyone knows Japan is ruined and cannot survive without the Chinese tourists buying local products. China please help us!! Ideally I would like to see more real estate tourism as well as I would really fancy my neighborhood to have more people of Chinese ancestry. My suggestions is also for Japanese restaurants to have more rounded tables because I have noticed that Chinese tourists prefer them, as they like to share their food. Also it would be good if restaurants lowered prices a bit, even though the quality of the ingredients would go down. But at least tourist would find this a really good deal. Lots of food at a good price! As for the flavor we can just add more MSG.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

I was one of them. Great country to visit. I have met many friends and have so much fun!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

So it's thanks to a weak yen, while at the same time the prime minister Abe says the economy is strong enough to support the tax increase.

Something is fishy here.(And it's not the fish)

What's fishy is that you're comparing apples to oranges. A "weak yen" refers to the yen's value in relation to other CURRENCIES on the international trading market. The economy is a whole different animal and you can have a strong yen in a weak economy and vice versa.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Officials are hoping that Tokyo’s hosting of the 2020 Summer Olympics will help Japan’s tourism push.

Probably in 2019-2020. A lot of people in the World did not even know Tokyo got the Olympics. It was huge news here but a lot of people only care about the upcoming Olympics than Olympics way down the line.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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