Tokyo, Feb 22 : The number of foreign visitors to Japan in January came to 2,688,100, reaching the pre-pandemic level in 2019, government data showed.

The latest figure surged 79.5 per cent from a year earlier, nearing the record high of 2,689,339 for the month set in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report by the Japan National Tourism Organisation on Wednesday as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.

The number of overseas visitors has been growing after Japan lifted border control related to Covid-19 in late April, while a weak yen has also been fueling the return of inbound tourists, the report said.

The impact of a powerful earthquake that jolted central Japan on New Year's Day has been "limited," according to the organisation.

The largest number of travellers came from South Korea, at 857,000, up 10 per cent from the same month in 2019, the data showed.

Meanwhile, the number of Japanese nationals travelling overseas in the reporting month jumped 89.3 per cent from a year earlier to 838,600 but was still down 42.3 per cent from January 2019.

/IANS