Tokyo, Aug. 18 (Jiji Press)–The estimated number of foreign visitors to Japan exceeded 50,000 for the first time in seven months in July, thanks to arrivals of people related to the Tokyo Olympics, the Japan National Tourism Organization said Wednesday.

The number of visitors stood at 51,100, more than 13 times larger than a year before, but down 98.3 pct from July 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

By country or region, the number of visitors from the United States was largest in July this year, at 6,100, followed by China, at 3,900, and Britain, at 3,400.

The number of visitors is expected to rise in August thanks to the Tokyo Olympics, which ended on Aug. 8, as well as the Paralympics, which kick off on Tuesday, the organization said.

But it said that the monthly total is highly likely to decline again starting in autumn if there is no major improvement in the COVID-19 situation.