Foreign Visitors To Japan Tops 19 Million

Above, the Tokyo Skytree and Asahi Beer Hall. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The Japan News (Yomiuri Shimbun) reported that the number of foreign visitors to Japan exceeded 19 million as of last Saturday.

They wrote:

The number of foreign visitors to Japan in 2015 exceeded 19 million as of Saturday, up more than 40 percent over the annual record set last year, transport minister Keiichi Ishii said Tuesday. 

The number is expected to break the 19.5 million mark by the end of the year, and will likely surpass the number of Japanese tourists who headed overseas, which is expected to be around 16 million, for the first time since 1970. 

The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached 19.01 million last Saturday, the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry said, representing an increase of more than 10 million in the three years since 2012, when a figure of 8.35 million was recorded.

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