TOKYO, June 20 (Xinhua) -- The number of foreign visitors to Japan rocketed to a record-high for the month of May, the Japan Tourism Agency said Wednesday.
According to the agency's estimations, tourist numbers visiting Japan in May leapt 16.6 percent from a year earlier to 2,675,000 people, marking a record for the month.
The agency said the jump in figures for the month was due to a rising number of individual visitors from China, adding that tourist numbers to Japan from all but one of the 20 countries polled in the survey rose to fresh record levels for May.
Visitors from the Chinese mainland jumped 29.3 percent on year in the recording period to 668,600 and topped the list of inbound guests, with travelers from China's Taiwan increasing 8 percent to 440,100 people, to come in second place, the agency said.
Travelers bound for Japan from China's Hong Kong increased 4.9 percent in the recording period compared to a year earlier, standing at 190,500 visitors and taking the third spot, the agency said.
The tourism agency also said that for the five months through May, the total estimated number of visitors to Japan climbed 15.6 percent from a year earlier to 13,194,400 people. Enditem
