. >> koga also said it's important to raise wages of workers at small and medium-sized firms, as well as for nonregular workers. >>> well the number of foreign visitors to japan so far this year has exceeded 10 million. the weaker yen and relaxed visa requirements for people from southeast asian nations spurred more travelers. officials at the japan national tourism organization say more than 1.25 million people visited last month. that's up 37% from a year ago. the total number of tourists this year hit the 10 million mark in october. that was two months earlier than last year. japan is drawing more visitors, partly because more items on store shelves have been made tax free for their benefit. also, more international flights now use tokyo's haneda airport. foreign visitors are also spending more during their stay. japan tourism agency officials say expenditures in the july to september period came to right around $4.7 billion. that is an all-time high. tourists from mainland china accounted for about a third of the figures. tourism officials say they project the annual total to reac