The number of overseas visitors to Japan surged by almost 9 percent in January from a month earlier. Tourists from East Asia during the Lunar New Year holidays accounted for much of the increase.

The Japan National Tourism Organization says the country welcomed 1,497,300 foreign travelers last month. That is an increase of 127,300 from December.

Almost 40 percent of them, 565,200, were from South Korea. Another 259,300 came from Taiwan and 151,900 from Hong Kong.

The number of inbound tourists has been growing since the government started easing coronavirus-related border restrictions last June.

But January's figure is still only about half what it was for the same month in 2019 before the pandemic.

The government is shifting its focus from visitor numbers to trying to attract high-spending holidaymakers. It wants to see spending per inbound tourist reach 200,000 yen, or about 1,500 dollars, by 2025.