Oct 17 (NHK) - The number of foreign visitors to Japan has dropped for the first time in more than 5 years as natural disasters prompted many tourists to cancel trips in September.
Official estimates show about 2.16 million foreign nationals visited the country last month. That's down 5.3% from a year earlier.
The first monthly decline since January 2013 is attributed mainly to cancellations by people from other parts of Asia.
That was as a typhoon damaged western Japan's Kansai International Airport and a major earthquake hit the northern prefecture of Hokkaido.
Officials say visitors from mainland China made up the largest group at over 650,000. But that was down 3.8% from last year. The number of travelers from South Korea fell 13.9%.
The Japan Tourism Agency says the disasters could continue to have some impact on visitor numbers in October. It says it will keep tourists informed of developments and work to restore demand.
Source: ANNnewsCH
