Tokyo, Sept. 16 (Jiji Press)–The estimated number of foreign visitors to Japan in August fell 9.6 pct from a year earlier to 3,098,900, down for the first time in two months, the Japan National Tourism Organization said Wednesday. The decrease appears to reflect the Chinese government’s ongoing advisory against travel to Japan for its citizens, as well as flight cancellations due to a series of typhoons. The number of visitors from mainland China plunged 59.0 pct, marking the ninth straight month of year-on-year decline. The number of Australian visitors dropped 7.4 pct to 38,200, down for the second consecutive month, as more people in the country refrain from international trips due to rising living costs. Meanwhile, visitor numbers from 14 countries and regions, including Mexico, Indonesia and India, set August record highs. Among these, arrivals from Italy and Spain also hit single-month record highs, at 47,300 and 36,500, respectively. By country and region, South Korea posted the largest number of visitors to Japan at 850,500, up 28.7 pct, followed by Taiwan at 666,000, up 7.3 pct, mainland China at 418,000, and Hong Kong at 247,300, up 9.4 pct. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
