In an effort to boost spending by Japanese tourists, a major credit card issuer said it is teaming up with dozens of local merchants in a yearlong promotional campaign.

Tokyo-based JCB yesterday said it will launch its Discover Aloha Hawaii project, which will offer special discounts and other premiums for its card holders at 124 local stores and restaurants.

The project, which will run between April 2006 and March 2007, also includes free rides on select Waikiki trolley routes for JCB card holders.

"We are confident that this project will contribute to the economy of Hawai'i by attracting more tourists to visit the Islands and encouraging them to enjoy shopping more while they are here," said Osamu Daigo, executive vice president for marketing JCB in Tokyo.

The Japanese are valuable to Hawai'i's No. 1 industry because they make up about 20 percent of all visitors and spend more money per day than tourists from other areas.

In January, visitor arrivals from Japan declined 7.3 percent to 122,144 while spending by Japanese visitors fell 3.8 percent to $174.4 million.

The January drop came after Japanese arrivals rose 2.7 percent last year to 1.52 million. The 2005 result was the second consecutive annual increase in Japanese visitor arrivals, following six years of decline.