The number of foreign visitors to Japan in 2015 exceeded 19 million as of Saturday, up more than 40 percent over the annual record set last year, transport minister Keiichi Ishii said Tuesday.
The number is expected to break the 19.5 million mark by the end of the year, and will likely surpass the number of Japanese tourists who headed overseas, which is expected to be around 16 million, for the first time since 1970.
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached 19.01 million last Saturday, the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry said, representing an increase of more than 10 million in the three years since 2012, when a figure of 8.35 million was recorded. The highest ever monthly figure has been recorded for 34 consecutive months starting in February 2013, according to the ministry.
Factors contributing to the sharp rise in foreign visitors include the growing income levels of people in neighboring Asian countries, continued weak yen, prevalence of low-cost carriers and easing of visa requirements.
The number of Japanese visitors overseas, on the other hand, dropped from a record 18.49 million in 2012 to 16.9 million in 2014. The figure for the January-November period stood at 14.87 million, a decline of 4.1 percent from the same period in 2014.
Source - http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0002642023
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