Chinese tourist rescued 36 hours after being swept out to sea while swimming in Japan

A Chinese tourist has been rescued nearly 36 hours after going missing from a beach in Japan.

The woman, 21, who has not been named, was swept out to sea while swimming at Shirahama beach at around 7.30pm on Monday. She was wearing a float ring.

Her friend, who was with her, informed the police.

A search and rescue operation was quickly launched by local police and fire departments and the Japan Coast Guard.

The woman was found by a cargo ship about 80km off the coast on Wednesday morning.

“It was around 7.55pm on July 8 when we received the information after the woman’s friend reported to a nearby convenience store that she was missing,” a coast guard official was quoted as saying by AFP.

The woman was found heavily dehydrated but conscious, the coast guard told Kyodo News.

The tourist said she found herself drifting about 30 minutes after she began swimming and tried hard to return to the coast, but was not able to, reported NHK Japan.

She was airlifted by a coast guard helicopter and taken to a hospital in Yokohama City. She did not require hospitalisation and was quickly discharged.

"She is strong, optimistic and full of hope. We are incredibly grateful that she did not give up on herself," a friend of the woman wrote on Chinese social media, according to the Shanghai Daily affiliate Shine.