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Japan reaches annual target of 1 million foreign visitors arriving by cruise ship

Xinhua, December 8, 2015 Adjust font size:

Japan's transport ministry on Tuesday reached its annual target of receiving 1 million foreign visitors to Japan by cruise ship, more than four years ahead of its proposed target.

According to the ministry, the swift footflow of tourists visiting Japan by sea was aided by new visa regulations making visiting Japan an easier and thus more attractive destination for tourists from certain countries, with the yen's comparative weakness also giving visitors here more purchasing power.

A ceremony was held by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to celebrate reaching the historic figure, with the millionth visitor to Japan by ship today being presented with Japanese gifts including flowers and a special doll figurine, by the land ministry's parliamentary secretary Kiyoshi Ejima.

Speaking at the ceremony at the Hakata port in southwestern Japan's Fukuoka City, Ejima was quoted by local media as saying that the ministry was resetting its sights on even more visitors, as part of the ministry's broader plans to focus on enhancing tourism to boost regional economies.

"We will aim even higher from here," said Ejima at the ceremony, adding that Japan's southwestern main island of Kyushu, where the popular Hakata port is, will continue to serve as a predominate "maritime gateway" to Japan, with the region being a notable hub henceforth for ramping up the numbers of sea-fearing visitors coming to Japan.

According to data from the transport ministry, in 2014 more than 400,000 foreign travelers arrived in Japan by cruise ships, around 227,000 more than a year earlier, with the ministry noting a sizable leap in the numbers of visitors embarking from China, owing to more specific cruise services destined for Japan.

Hakata proved to be the most popular port, in the recording period, with just less than 100 ships docking there, with Nagasaki clocking up 70 dockings and Ishigaki, one of Okinawa's summer islands coming in at 69, said the transport ministry.

With land minister Keiichi Ishii at a press conference saying that Japan would continue to bolster its efforts to make the nation a fully-fledged tourist-oriented country, the government has said it will modernize its ports in Japan so that more frequent dockings by larger ships can be accommodated by 2020 when Tokyo is set to host the Olympic Games. Enditem