Some 170 Chinese nationals on tours to Japan have gone missing since the vacation tours were resumed in September 2000, transport ministry sources said Saturday.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport suspects those who went missing joined tours to Japan with the intention of absconding and finding jobs here, the ministry sources said.
From September 2000 through August this year, a total of 40,629 Chinese nationals visited Japan on 2,002 group-tour packages, according to the Tourism Department of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry.