Inbound tourism is on a recovery track. The number of foreign visitors to Japan topped 2.6 million last month, close to the pre-pandemic level marked in January, 2019.

The Japan National Tourism Organization puts the figure at 2.68 million people.
That's an increase of almost 80 percent from the same month last year.

The number exceeded 2.5 million for the second straight month.

Visitors from South Korea formed the largest group, at 857,000. Taiwan followed with 492,300, and China with 415,900.

The organization says the number of tourists from Asian countries and regions, such as South Korea and Taiwan, topped pre-pandemic figures. It says the weaker yen also encouraged more people from the US and Australia to visit.

The number of visitors from China is recovering, but the latest data is still nearly 45 percent down from January, 2019.

The organization says growing uncertainty over the economic outlook due to the sluggish real estate market in China may be a factor behind the low numbers.