TOKYO: The estimated number of foreign visitors to Japan surged 41.9 pct from a year earlier to 3,292,500 in July, hitting a record monthly high for the second straight month, the Japan National Tourism Organization said Wednesday.

The figure was above three million for the fifth consecutive month as demand for travel to Japan during the summer holidays grew amid a weak yen.

The number of visitors in July was up 10.1 pct compared with July 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the first seven months of this year, the number of overseas visitors to Japan totaled 21.06 million, exceeding 20 million at the fastest pace ever.

Visitors to Japan from mainland China, where group tours to Japan were banned until early August last year, surged 147.8 pct to 776,500, representing the largest single group.

South Korea accounted for the second-highest number of visitors, at 757,700, followed by Taiwan, at 571,700, and Hong Kong, at 279,100.

JIJI Press