Japanese travelers spent fewer than two nights on domestic trips on average last year, according to an annual government report on tourism released Tuesday.
The white paper said the average length of stay per domestic trip fell by 0.09 nights from a year before to 1.92 nights, dropping below the two-night mark for the first time on record. The government began compiling the statistics in 1979.
The average length of stay peaked in 1991 at 3.06 nights and has continued to decline since then, the report says.
"The number of people traveling abroad has risen and, because of better transportation, people are making daylong trips or staying overnight rather than spending a couple of nights," an official at the Land, Infrastructure and Transportation Ministry said.
The number of foreigners who came to Japan last year on business or for sightseeing rose 17.8 percent to a record 6.14 million, the report says. The number of Japanese who went abroad jumped 26.6 percent over 2003 to 16.83 million, the second-highest figure on record.