Japanese customers see the number of foreign visitors to Japan drop

“The number of foreigners entering Japan last year declined by more than 1.5 million from a year earlier, marking the 2nd biggest drop since 1950…The justice ministry said 7 million 580,000 foreigners entered Japan last year -- down 17.1 percent, or 1 million 560,000, from the previous year. This is the 2nd largest decrease since the ministry began compiling the data. The number of short-stay visitors fell sharply.”

Source: Foreign visitors down 17.1% in 2009
2010/01/13
NHK World
http://www.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/13_05.html