Haneda Airport in Tokyo, the second busiest airport in Asia and fifth in the world, in October 2010 opened up for international flights, becoming the second international airport in Tokyo area besides Narita. Photo: かがみ～/Flickr

Robotized toilets, talking vending machines and restaurants without chairs* are just some of the wonders that a tourist will encounter upon landing on the island of the samurai.

According to the official statistics by the Japanese immigration bureau, a record of 9.44 million foreigners visited Japan in 2010, making this the highest number of visitors since the records began in 1950.

Most visitors arrived from South Korea (2.69 million), followed by mainland Chinese (1.66 million), Taiwanese (1.31 million), Americans (760,000) and Hong Kong citizens (480,000).

The increase was partly due to easing of the rules for obtaining personal tourism visa for Chinese visitors. However, from September the number of visitors from China and Hong Kong quickly decreased because of the rift between Japan and China over the Senkaku Islands incident that took place that month.

The number of Japanese who traveled overseas in 2010 increased to 16.64 million, up by 1.19 million from the year before.

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Source: http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201101160165.html

*Traditional Japanese restaurants often have dining areas where guests sit on the floor (on tatami) with low tables without chairs.