TOKYO, Jan. 12 (AP) - (Kyodo)—The number of foreign passenger arrivals in Japan last year was 7.58 million, down 1.56 million or 17.1 percent from the previous year, the Justice Ministry said Tuesday in released preliminary data. The ministry's Immigration Bureau attributed the decline to the global economic slump, strong yen and the new flu. The rate of the decline is the second largest on record following a 22.8 percent yearly drop in 1971, when the world was hit by the oil shock and exchange rate disruptions. Arrivals also declined in 2003 but turned to a rise in 2004 and posted a record 9.15 million in 2007. The figure then fell in 2008 and 2009. Of the 7.58 million arrivals in 2009, tourists and others making short stays accounted for 6.12 million, while foreign residents of Japan returning from trips abroad accounted for 1.46 million. The number of passenger departures by Japanese going abroad in 2009, meanwhile, was 15.45 million, down 540,000 or 3.4 percent from 2008, the ministry said.
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