No. of foreign visitors down for 1st time in 5 yrs

TOKYO, Jan. 8 Kyodo -
The number of foreign visitors to Japan in 2008 turned downward for the first
time in five years, totaling about 9.15 million, down 5,800, or 0.1 percent,
from the previous year when it marked a record high, the Justice Ministry said
Thursday in a preliminary report.
The number ''was on the rise in the first half of the reporting year, but
dwindled in the latter half against the backdrop of the global economic
downturn and the Japanese yen's surge,'' a ministry official said.
The decline is said to be mainly attributable to a significant decrease in the
number of visitors from South Korea, which saw its currency tumble sharply in
the reporting year. They have accounted for about 30 percent of the total in
recent years.
Meanwhile, the number of Japanese traveling overseas fell for the second
straight year, down 7.6 percent from the year before to 15.99 million in a
reflection of the slowing economy and the rise in airfares following crude oil
price hikes, according to the ministry.
==Kyodo
2009-01-08 21:20:49