The number of foreign visitor arrivals in Japan in 11 months from January totaled 22,332,000, topping 20 million in a calendar year for the first time since 2019, government data showed Wednesday, a fresh sign of the tourism boom's resurgence in the country following the coronavirus pandemic.

For November alone, the country recorded an estimated 2,440,800 foreign visitors, exceeding the 2 million mark for the sixth consecutive month, on the back of a significant increase in the number of travelers from Asia and North America amid a weak yen and resumption of airline services, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization.

The monthly figure recovered from a year earlier to a nearly identical level as November 2019, before the outbreak of COVID-19, the data showed.

Japan Tourism Agency Commissioner Ichiro Takahashi said it is possible to reach the target of 5 trillion yen ($35 billion) in annual spending by foreign visitors "if the current pace continues in December."

The number of foreign visitors is on the pace to reach around 25 million by the end of the year. The government aims to surpass the highest annual figure recorded in 2019 -- 31.88 million -- in 2025.

Major Japanese travel agency JTB Corp. predicted in a survey released Wednesday that visitor arrivals in the country would reach the highest-ever 33.1 million in 2024.

The most arrivals in the reporting month came from South Korea at 649,900, more than three times that of 2019, followed by Taiwan at 403,500, up 2.9 percent over the same period, China at 258,300, down 65.6 percent, and Hong Kong at 200,400, up 0.3 percent.

Visitor arrivals from the United States rose 24.0 percent to 184,800 and those from Mexico jumped 52.4 percent to 9,900, according to the data. Visitors from Canada rose 17.1 percent to 39,000.

The number of Japanese nationals traveling overseas in November stood at 1,027,100, 37.5 percent less than the same month in 2019.

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