More and more tourists are taking off for Japan. Image: JNTO

It doesn’t come as too big a shock to learn that the number of foreign tourists who visited Japan in 2012 grew significantly over the year prior; in 2011, the nation was rocked by an earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis that saw inbound tourism for the remainder of the year plummet. 

But what is surprising is in fact just how well tourism to the nation rebounded from the events of 2011.

According to the Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO), last year, the country welcomed more than 8.3 million international travellers, an increase of nearly 35 percent over the year prior and a figure that fell just short of the all-time record of 8.6 million set in 2010.

Talking to the figures, an official from JNTO said “the inauguration of new services by low-cost carriers and the easing of visa-issuance conditions by the Japanese government” had helped contribute to the increase, AFP reported.

Despite a fall in December in the number of Chinese visitors to Japan – the result of a territorial dispute being fought out between Tokyo and Beijing – the overall number of tourists to visit Japan from China rose 37.1 percent.

Meanwhile, visitor numbers from Taiwan grew by 47.6 percent to a record 1.4 million.