Japan Tourism Agency announced that duty-free stores increased by 9.8% or 3,451 stores to 38,950 nationwide as of October 1 2016 compared to April 1 2016. The total was broken down into 23,826 in three major city areas of Tokyo Osaka and Nagoya and 14,827 in local areas. The growth rates were 9.8% in both three major city areas and local areas.
The highest growth rate was 18.8% in the Tohoku area under control of Sendai Regional Taxation Bureau, and except Fukushima (+5.6%), all of other prefectures increased duty-free stores by double-digit.
