Overnight stays at accommodation facilities in Japan by foreigners jumped 68.2 percent in March from a year earlier to about 12.70 million, the highest monthly figure on the back of a weaker yen, preliminary government data showed Tuesday.

The latest number exceeded the previous single-month high for overnight stays by foreigners of around 12.30 million in December 2023, according to the Japan Tourism Association.

Photo taken on April 17, 2024, shows the area around Kiyomizu temple in Kyoto bustling with foreign tourists. (Kyodo)

Overnight stays by all guests including Japanese travelers also rose 8.2 percent from a year earlier to around 54.86 million in the reporting month, the data showed.

The total figure represents a 7.2 percent increase from March 2019 before hotel operators were affected by the outbreak of COVID-19, with Japanese and foreign guests rising 1.3 percent and 33.4 percent, respectively, according to the data.

Japan's inbound tourism has been steadily recovering since the government lifted border controls imposed as a result of coronavirus infections on April 29, 2023, and downgraded the legal status of COVID-19 to the same category as seasonal influenza on May 8 that year.

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