Japan will offer 10,000 foreigners free plane trips to the country next year to try to kick-start the tourism industry.

The country's tourism agency announced the plan to counter the slump in visitor numbers since the March tsunami and nuclear disasters.

In the three months since the disasters, the number of foreign tourists visiting Japan has crashed by more than 50 per cent.

The sharp drop began to ease somewhat in the summer.

In June and July, tourist figures were down 36 per cent from a year ago, easing to 32 per cent in August as the country worked to reassure foreign tourism markets.

Japan's Yomiuri newspaper says the tourism agency will ask would-be travellers to submit online applications, with hopes the successful applicants will write positive reports about their experiences in Japan which will be published online.

Tourism authorities hope positive reports from travellers about their experiences in Japan will help ease international worries about visiting the country, the newspaper said.

The program, which will require travellers to cover other costs such as accommodation, is expected to start from April, subject to government budgetary approval.

The government has said Japan is safe except for the immediate vicinity of the crippled plant, where work crews are still trying to bring the facility to a cold shutdown.

ABC/AFP