A total of 359,827 Japanese tourists visited Bali in 2008, accounting for 18.06 percent of the total number of foreign tourists coming to the resort island that year.
The number of Japanese tourists visiting Bali last year represented a 2.21 percent increase from the year before, head of the local statistics office Ida Komang Wisnu said on Tuesday.
Bali`s unique arts and culture as well as panoramic scenery served as special attractions for Japanese tourists to visit the world-renowned resort island, he said.
Data from the statistics office show Japan topped the list of countries in terms of foreign tourists coming to Bali last year.
Trailing behind Japan in the second place was Australia with 313,313 tourists, jumping 52.68 percent from the year before when the figure was recorded at 205,205.
South Korea came in third with 134,909 tourists (6.77 percent), followed by China 131,909 (6.59 percent), Taiwan 130,449 (6.55 percent), Malaysia 129,727 (6.51 percent), the United Kingdom 82,827 (4.16 percent), Germany 82,686 (4.15 percent) and France 77,379 (3.88 percent), and the United States 68,619 (3.44 percent).
The data also show the number of foreign tourists from other countries was recorded at 481,244, up 24.16 percent from a year earlier.