Visitors to Japan Plunge in February Amid Virus Fears

Kyodo file photo

TOKYO (Kyodo) — The number of foreign visitors to Japan plunged below 1 million in February, less than half of the 2.37 million recorded a year earlier, amid coronavirus fears, immigration authorities said Friday, dealing a severe blow to the country’s economy.

Visitors from China, hit hardest by the outbreak of the virus that causes COVID-19 pneumonia which was first detected in Wuhan in December, fell sharply, failing to reach 60,000, less than a tenth of the around 658,000 a year earlier, according to the Immigration Services Agency.

Continue reading the story here.

Advertisement