Visitors to Japan 93 pct below Pre-Pandemic Level in Aug.

Tokyo, Sept. 21 (Jiji Press)--The estimated number of visitors to Japan in August stood at 169,800, up about 6.6-fold from a year earlier but still down 93.3 pct from the same month in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, government data showed Wednesday.

The monthly number hit the highest level so far this year, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization.

The August figure includes 33,000 from Vietnam, the most by country or region, followed by 28,500 from South Korea, 15,800 from the United States and 12,300 from mainland China.

Japan restarted accepting foreign visitors, excluding tourists, under certain conditions in March and has since been easing COVID-19-linked entry restrictions in stages, including a partial reopening of its borders for tourists on package tours in June.

Still, the monthly number of visitors to Japan has yet to bounce back above 200,000.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]