Foreign visitors to Japan fall 3.6% in May, Chinese travel demand soft

TOKYO - The number of foreign visitors to Japan in May fell 3.6 percent from a year earlier to 3.56 million due to a drop in travelers from China amid worsening diplomatic ties between the Asian neighbors, government data showed Wednesday.

While the overall figure marked the second straight month of decline, the number of visitors from the United States and European countries increased, the Japan National Tourism Organization said, in a sign that the impact of the conflict in the Middle East has been limited.