May 29 (NHK) - Japan's textile imports surged in April, fuelled by growing demand for face masks.
New finance ministry trade data shows that imports of textile goods, including face masks, hit 116 billion yen, or just over 1 billion dollars.
That's ten times higher than the same month last year.
As many as 95 percent of the imports come from China, followed by Vietnam.
The surge in textile goods took place despite an overall decline of 7 percent in Japan's total imports compared to last year.