Japan drew more than 8 million tourists from abroad last year, a record, with the number of visitors from South Korea increasing 22.8 percent, the Japan National Tourist Organization said.

Of the 8.35 million people who visited Japan, 31.2 percent came from South Korea, 16.6 percent from Taiwan, 11.3 percent from China, and 9.8 percent from the U.S., the organization said yesterday in a report posted on its Web site.

The number of South Korean tourists increased to 2.6 million, while that of Taiwanese visitors rose 5.8 percent to 1.39 million. There were 943,400 visitors from China, up 16.2 percent. The number of American tourists represented a decline of 0.1 percent to 815,900, the report said.

Favorable currency exchange rates were a factor in the increase in South Korean and Chinese tourists, the report said. The yen averaged 117.78 against the dollar last year, compared with 116.34 in 2006. The yen traded at an average at 15.482 against the Chinese yuan last year, from 14.595 the year before. South Korean won rose to 12.675 during the year, compared with 12.188 a year earlier.

The number of Japanese people who traveled overseas fell 1.3 percent to 17.3 million. While people over the age of 60 traveled more, those under 40 traveled less, the report said.

Also, more South Koreans visited Japan because Japan waived visa requirements for short-term visitors from the country, according to the report. Japan will create an agency within the Ministry of Land to promote tourism, the government announced today.

In response to the tourism increase from Asia, drugstore operator Matsumotokiyoshi Co. now accepts China's Yinlian debit cards and the Shinjuku Washington Hotel has hired employees who speak Chinese and Korean. Yodobashi Camera, which runs electronics shops, also has Chinese-speaking staff, the Nikkei newspaper said.