TOKYO – For the first time in almost half a century, more foreign visitors are expected to have entered Japan than Japanese people who visited abroad, local news reports said Thursday.

In 2015, more than 19 million foreign tourists visited Japan, according to unrevised data from Japan’s office of tourism. The figure reflects a 40 percent increase from 2014.

Transport and Tourism Minister Ishii Keiichi said “policies for easing visa issuances and widened tax breaks for foreigners seemed to have had an effect.”

Japan’s Shinzo Abe government has been unleashing measures to promote tourism and foreign investment. It is aiming to attract up to 20 million foreign tourists by 2020, the year of the Tokyo Olympics.

A cheaper yen also helped, according to industry watchers. The yen fell more than 35 percent against the dollar under the Abe administration.

Japan’s growing popularity spelled a reversal of fortune for Korea.

About 16 million foreign tourists visited the smaller Asian economy last year. Consequently, Japan beat Korea in terms of tourist numbers for the first time in seven years.

In particular, Japan attracted a significant number of Chinese tourists. Those visiting Japan rose by 110 percent, while Korea experienced a 7.6 percent decrease from the previous year, the government data showed.

From January to November last year, the biggest number of tourists came from China, followed by Korea and Taiwan. 


By Kim Ji-hyun
Korea Herald correspondent
(jemmie@heraldcorp.com)