A record 923,000 foreign tourists visited Japan last month thanks to the weak yen. The Japanese government aims to attract 10 million foreign tourists this year, helped by visa exemption agreements with Southeast Asia.
The Japan National Tourism Organization on Thursday said the number of foreign visitors in April was 18.1 percent higher than a year ago.
The largest group was Koreans at 204,000, a 33.7-percent jump on-year. The number of tourists from Southeast Asia is also rapidly rising with 60,000 Thais and 12,000 Vietnamese travelers.
The drivers were the low yen and rapid expansion of budget airlines in the region, according to Nihon Keizai Shimbun.
But the number of tourists from China dwindled by 33 percent amid a territorial dispute over the Senkaku or Diaoyu Islands, to 100,000.