Chinese help Japan economy recover

An estimated 1.27 million foreigners visited Japan last month as tourists or businesspeople, a record for a single month, with the number of Chinese visitors increasing twofold year-on-year to 281,200, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization. And the number of Chinese tourists to Japan in the first six months of the year increased to 1.01 million, a year-on-year growth of more than 88 percent.

The increase in the number of Chinese tourists to Japan started in September 2013, and has continued since. The current boom is in contrast to the drastic decline in tourist numbers at the height of the Sino-Japanese dispute over the Diaoyu Islands, especially during the 2012-13 travel seasons.

Last year, Japan received 10.4 million foreign visitors, meeting the government target of 10 million for the first time, thanks to a weaker yen and easier visa requirements for visitors from Southeast Asian countries.