6 M. Foreigners Visit National Parks in Japan in 2017

Tokyo, March 12 (Jiji Press)--The estimated number of visitors from abroad to 34 national parks in Japan in 2017 rose 10.0 pct from a year before to 6,001,000, up for the second consecutive year, the Environment Ministry said Monday. Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, stretching from Tokyo to Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan, attracted the most foreign visitors, with 2.58 million. Aso-Kuju National Park, which straddles Kumamoto and Oita prefectures in southwestern Japan, came in second with 926,000 visitors, followed by Shikotsu-Toya National Park in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido, with 901,000. The estimates were based on the results of questionnaires for visitors to Japan made when they left the country. The ministry aims to raise the total annual number to 10 million by 2020. To achieve the goal, the ministry is boosting efforts to increase directions in foreign languages inside national parks and promote accommodation facilities near such parks. END