More Chinese tourists visited Japan than South Korea in the first quarter of this year, data showed Monday.

According to Bloomberg and the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute, 735,000 backpackers from China visited Korea, a 9.6 percent increase from a year earlier. In contrast, Japan saw 913,000 Chinese tourists during that period, about double the same period last year. The Chinese travelled to Thailand the most.

The boost in Japanese tourism comes from its eased tourist visa rules for the Chinese. The weak yen also attracted foreigners. The Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak here last year also made Chinese tourists reluctant to visit Korea and shift their destination to Japan, according to the report.