Visitors to Japan Slumped 99.9% Last Month
A person takes a photograph of a Kaminarimon gate near the Sensoji temple in the Asakusa district of Tokyo, on April 25.
Photographer: Soichiro Koriyama/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Only 2,900 foreign visitors entered Japan the month of April, a drop of more than 99.9% versus the year earlier, as the extent to which the coronavirus pandemic has frozen a once-booming tourism sector became clear.
The drop was the largest on records dating back to 1964, the Japan National Tourism Organization said. Japan on April 3 expanded entry restrictions to 73 countries, and now bars everyone except citizens from entering if they arrive from one of 100 nations. Just 3,900 Japanese left for abroad, with the government strongly discouraging travel to almost all parts of the world.