TOKYO – The number of foreign visitors to Japan fell 9.6 percent year on year in August to about 3.1 million, marking the first decline in two months, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization.
The drop was largely attributed to a continued decline in travelers from mainland China, where arrivals plunged 59 percent from a year earlier, as well as flight disruptions caused by a series of typhoons.
Chinese visitor numbers have now fallen year on year for nine consecutive months.
Arrivals from Australia also declined 7.4 percent to 38,200, marking a second straight monthly drop, amid weaker overseas travel demand linked to higher living costs.
Despite the overall decline, visitor numbers from 14 countries and regions reached record highs for August, including Mexico, Indonesia and India.
Italy and Spain also posted record monthly arrivals, with 47,300 visitors from Italy and 36,500 from Spain.
South Korea remained Japan’s largest source of visitors in August with 850,500 arrivals, up 28.7 percent year on year.
Taiwan followed with 666,000 visitors, up 7.3 percent, while mainland China recorded 418,000. Hong Kong arrivals rose 9.4 percent to 247,300.
