Marking 60 years of bilateral ties between the two countries, Japan today said it plans to triple the number of tourists travelling from India to the country by 2020.

According to 2010 reports, the number of travellers from India to Japan was 66,000 and in the past one year the increase has only been two per cent due to the earthquake (Tsunami) that occurred recently.

"Since the earthquake, the number of tourists has decreased. But even after that, 90 per cent of the travellers have been for business purposes. So, it did not affect that much because people keep travelling for business," Aya Yoshida, Counsellor at the Embassy of Japan here, said.

Inaugurating the Japan Visa Application Centre (JVAC) here, he said the Japan Embassy has introduced the processing of visa applications through a service provider for applicants residing in India. VFS Global will be responsible for accepting and processing applications for Japan's visas at a nominal service fee of Rs 405 plus taxes.

"With JVAC, it will become more convenient for all travellers from India to visit Japan," Akitaka Saiki, Japanese Ambassador to India, wrote in his message, adding the new visa centre would facilitate more tourists and business travellers.

"Accessibility is one of the main things that will come along this visa application centre. A larger window of operation is open to applicants as the centre is open from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm," Vishal Jairath, Regional Head (South Asia) VFS Global, said while highlighting the need for having a separate centre for application of visa.

There are six satellite VFS centres across north India in Jaipur, Agra, Dehradun, Ludhiana and others from where applicants can seek Japanese visa.