New data finds that the number of South Korean tourists who visited Japan in August nearly halved compared to the same period last year. 

The dramatic decrease came as South Koreans boycott traveling to Japan and purchasing Japanese products amid a trade and historical row. 

According to statistics released by the Japan National Tourism Organization on Wednesday, 308-thousand-700 South Koreans visited Japan last month, down 48 percent compared to the same period last year. 

The figure is nearly six times smaller than the number of South Korean tourists who visited Japan in July when the boycott movement first began. 

As a result, the number of South Koreans who traveled to Japan in the first eight months of the year slipped nine-point-three-percent compared to the same period last year to some four-point-73 million. 

Due to the sharp drop in South Korean tourists, Japan saw its total number of foreign travelers drop two-point-two percent on-year in August to stand at roughly two-and-a-half million.