General News

Visitors to Japan in August at 85% of Pre-COVID Level

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
Tourists from abroad pose for a commemorative photo in front of the Kaminarimon gate in Asakusa, Tokyo, in August.

Jiji Press

17:43 JST, September 20, 2023

Tokyo (Jiji Press) — The estimated number of visitors to Japan in August recovered to 85.6% of the level marked just before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Japan National Tourism Organization said Wednesday.

The figure stood at 2,156,900 against 2,520,134 in August 2019. Compared with a year before, the latest number jumped about 13-fold.

The number of visitors topped 80% of pre-pandemic levels for the first time, thanks to the resumption of group tours from China and the effects of the weak yen.

Visitors from mainland China increased to over 360,000 from some 310,000 in July. But the number remained at 36.4% of the August 2019 level due partly to trip cancellations spurred by Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.’s release of tritium-containing treated water from its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into the ocean.