The estimated number of monthly foreign visitors to Japan increased 7.5 percent in January from a year earlier to a record 2,689,400, the Japan Tourism Agency said Wednesday.

Regarding locations from where the visitors hailed, those from South Korea were the most numerous at 779,400, down 3 percent from a year earlier, followed by those from China at 754,400, up 19.3 percent, Taiwan at 387,500, up 10.5 percent and Hong Kong at 154,300, down 3.9 percent.

The number of visitors from Vietnam and Australia rose significantly in the period, marking increases of 27.8 percent to 35,400 and 16.0 percent to 81,100, respectively.