BEIJING (Kyodo) Wednesday saw the first arrival of Chinese coming to Japan as individual tourists, rather than as part of a guided group tour.
The tourism and airline industries hope the so-called individual tourist visa the travelers have been granted will lead to a significant increase in Chinese visitors by giving them more freedom in choosing destinations and activities.
Only affluent Chinese are eligible to apply for the visa.
The program is in line with a bilateral agreement reached when Prime Minister Taro Aso visited China in April.
Sixteen tourists flew out of Beijing Capital International Airport aboard a Japan Airlines flight and 18 others took an All Nippon Airways jet. Both flights were bound for Tokyo.
"Because Japan has cultural attractions such as animation, food and nature, we would like Chinese people — especially the youth — to travel freely to Japan and deepen their understanding of the country," said Keizaburo Yokota, executive officer for JAL's Beijing office. "So far, the Chinese have traveled to Japan mainly on a weeklong or 10-day tour, but the new measure allows them to visit Tokyo exclusively for shopping, for example."
The Foreign Ministry expects the total number of Chinese visitors to increase by 250,000 to 1.25 million in 2010 from 2008, generating an estimated ¥40 billion.