Japan Numbers Plunge in November

The Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO) reports that the number of foreigners who visited Japan in November is estimated to have totaled 553,900, registering a 19.3 percent drop from a year earlier and a year-on-year fall for the fourth consecutive month. Visitors from the U.S. declined 12.5 percent to 56,100. The JNTO attributed the decline to the global economic downturn and a nearly 50 percent drop in arrivals of South Koreans who have seen their travel costs surge as the won depreciated sharply against the yen.

Outbound travel has also declined. The number of Japanese people departing for foreign destinations dropped 14.1 percent to 1,247,000 in November, marking the 19th month of consecutive declines.