Foreign visitors reached the record high although future decline is concerned due to worsening Japan-Korea relations

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The Japan National Tourism Organization announced on July 17 that the number of foreign visitors to Japan in the first half of 2019 recorded the highest ever exceeding 16,633,000, an increase of 4.6% over the same period last year.
Chinese travelers whose visa requirements have been eased in January and Vietnamese travelers from which flights to Japan have newly started boosted the number.
By country and region, China tops with 4,532,500 people visiting Japan with increase of 11.7%.
Korea follows although it dropped 3.8 percent to 3,862,700 for the first decline in five years. Taiwan also fell 1.0 percent to 2,480,800.
As a result the overall growth rate has shrunk from 15% in the first half of last year.
The Japanese government pointed out that significant growth can also be expected in the second half as natural disasters such as the Hokkaido earthquake caused decreasing visitors last year.
In addition the government indicated that it is likely to renew the record high in the whole year with the Rugby World Cup effect added.
However the government also explained that cancellations by Korean tourists such as employee trips to Japan have been reported since July due to the deterioration of the Japan-Korea relationship following the strengthening of export control of semiconductor materials by the Japanese government.
The number of tourists from Korea is expected to decrease for the time being and it is concerned that if the government can achieve the target of 40 million foreign tourists visiting Japan in 2020.

 Photo provided by the Nagoya Port Authority

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