Foreign Visitors Still Coming To Japan Despite Yen's Surge

Above, inside Senso-ji in Asakusa, Tokyo. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

With the Japanese yen hovering around ¥100-102 against the U.S. dollar recently, one has to wonder if this will dampen the desires of visitors from the United States. Other currencies have also lost ground against the yen.

Apparently not, at least according to an article in the Japan Times.

They reported:

The total number of foreign visitors surged by more than a quarter from January through July this year compared with the first half of 2015, the Japan Tourism Agency said Wednesday. 

Numbers leaped an estimated 26.7 percent for the period, to 14.01 million, surpassing the 11.05 million logged last year, the Japan Tourism Agency said Wednesday. 

In July alone, the number hit a new monthly record with 2,296,500 visitors, up 19.7 percent from a year earlier, helped largely by a rise in the number of port calls by foreign cruise ships and greater tourism promotion overseas. 

The latest monthly figure shows numbers have recovered after a slowdown prompted by the quakes that pummeled Kyushu in April, the Japan National Tourism Organization said.

Only time will tell if the article is correct or not.

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