Oct. 16–TOKYO — The number of monthly overseas tourists to Japan declined for the first time in more than five years as the country suffered a powerful typhoon and a major earthquake, the government said on Tuesday.
Japan received 2.16 million visitors from abroad in September, down 5.3 per cent, marking the first year-on-year fall since January 2013, according to the Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO).
Typhoon Jebi pummelled western Japan on September 4, leaving 11 dead and hundreds injured and inundating Kansai International Airport, which is located on an artificial island.
The airport, a major gateway to western cities such as Osaka and Kyoto, fully reopened 17 days later.
Two days after the storm, a magnitude-6.7 earthquake rocked the northern island of Hokkaido, killing more than 40 people and triggering a blackout across the prefecture, resulting in nearly 3 million households losing electricity.
New Chitose Airport, the island's main airport, was temporarily closed due to the blackout and the damage to the terminal building.
According to JNTO, in September, Japan received 652,700 visitors from China, the largest market, down 3.8 per cent from a year earlier, while the number of tourists from South Korea, the second-largest market, fell 13.9 per cent to 479,700.
Last year, a record 28.7 million people travelled to Japan, which marked the sixth straight year of increases since 2011, the year the country suffered a powerful earthquake, resulting tsunami and its worst nuclear disaster.
Japan aims to boost the number of overseas visitors to 40 million in 2020, when Tokyo hosts the Olympic Games.
