The estimated number of tourists visiting Japan surged 41.9% from a year earlier to 3,292,500 in July, hitting a second-straight monthly high, the Japan National Tourism Organization said Wednesday.

The figure was above 3 million for the fifth consecutive month as demand for travel to Japan during the summer holidays grew amid a weak yen.

The number of visitors in July was up 10.1% compared with July 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the first seven months of this year, the number of overseas visitors to Japan totaled 21.06 million, exceeding 20 million at the fastest pace ever.

Visitors to Japan from mainland China, where group tours to Japan were banned until early August last year, surged 147.8% to 776,500, representing the largest single group.

South Korea accounted for the second-highest number of visitors, at 757,700, followed by Taiwan, at 571,700, and Hong Kong, at 279,100.