Japan's Jan. foreign visitors dip amid China spat, 1st fall in 4 years
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The number of foreign visitors to Japan in January dipped 4.9 percent from a year earlier to 3.60 million, the government said Wednesday, as entries of Chinese nationals plummeted after Beijing urged its citizens not to visit Japan due to diplomatic tensions over Taiwan.
The number of visitors fell for the first time in four years since January 2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the Japan National Tourism Organization noting that the decline could also be attributed to the Lunar New Year falling in mid-February this year and a reduction in the number of flights between the countries.
A total of 385,300 people visited Japan from China in January, plunging 60.7 percent from the previous year.
The tensions stem from remarks made in November by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about how Japan might respond to an emergency in Taiwan, a self-ruled island China sees as part of its territory.
But travelers to Japan from many other countries and regions grew due to demand for snow sports tourism, with those from South Korea, Taiwan and Australia hitting record monthly highs. The number of travelers from 17 countries and regions, including the United States and Indonesia, hit record highs for January.
By country and region, 1.18 million people visited Japan from South Korea in January, a 21.6 percent jump from a year earlier, followed by Taiwan with 694,500 people, up 17.0 percent.
Those from Australia increased 14.6 percent to 160,700, while visitors from the United States grew 13.8 percent to 207,800.
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