The number of foreign travelers to Japan plummeted in the first half of this year — the first drop since the 2011 earthquake and tsunami devastated the Tohoku region — after the country imposed strict border controls in response to the coronavirus pandemic, according to data released by the Immigration Services Agency (ISA) on Friday.
The number of foreign nationals who entered Japan between January and June totaled 4.09 million, down 75.1 percent from the same period last year, according to agency data. The figure is in sharp contrast to the trend in recent years where Japan has been seeing a steady increase in the number of foreign travelers ahead of the planned Tokyo Games.
Visitors with short-term tourist visas numbered 3.35 million, down 77.2 percent compared with the same period last year. From April, the number of short-term travelers — in particular from China, where the coronavirus is believed to have originated — dropped by around 99 percent.