The number of foreign visitors to Tokyo topped 10 million for the first time last year, NHK reported Friday.
Based on a survey on tourist spots and hotels, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government found that non-Japanese who visited Tokyo for sightseeing or business totaled 11.89 million, up 34 percent from 8.87 million a year before, the report said.
The total amount of money they spent in Tokyo amounted to ¥1.115 trillion in 2015, up 42 percent from the previous year and topping ¥1 trillion for the first time, helped by an increase in the number of duty-free items, according to the report.
The metropolitan government hopes to boost the number of foreign visitors to 15 million by 2020 when it hosts the Olympics and Paralympics, by taking such measures as increasing free Internet access points.