Foreign entries to Japan in February up 88-fold year on year

TOKYO, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The estimated number of foreign visitors to Japan in February was 88 times higher than that of the year before, totaling 1,475,300, government data showed Wednesday.

The figure, though showing signs of recovery in the tourism industry, was still 43.4 percent lower than the number in February 2019 before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization.

According to the organization, arrivals from East Asia comprised the largest number of visitors but registered a drop of about 22,000 from January when many traveled during the lunar new year holiday period.

Among the arrivals, the most came from South Korea with 568,600, while those from non-Asian markets also grew at a steady pace.

In February, 86,900 travelers from the United States arrived in Japan, and 36,200 arrivals were from China, the data showed.

Meanwhile, 537,700 Japanese traveled abroad, up 11 times from February of the previous year but 65 percent fewer than the figure in the same period in 2019.