Foreign visitors to Japan top 20 mln in January-October

The number of foreign visitors to Japan topped 20 million in the first 10 month of this year, said the Japan National Tourism Organization on Wednesday.

A total of 20.1 million foreign visitors visited Japan between January and October, up 23.3 percent from the same period of last year and beating last year's total of 19.7 million.

For the single month of October, the number stood at 2.1 million, up 16.8 percent from a year earlier.

During China's seven-day National Day holiday in October, more cruise ships made port calls in Japan, said the organization.

Meanwhile, the organization also attributed the increase to a rising number of flights linking Japan with China and South Korea.

Setting a target to draw 40 million foreign visitors to Japan in 2020, when Tokyo hosts the Olympics and Paralympics, the Japanese government plans to improve infrastructure and better promote regional tourist attractions.

(APD)