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Japan Missing Out on $37 Billion Tourist Windfall From Weak Yen

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  • Yen at 130 against dollar would normally fuel visitor numbers

  • Senior LDP figure calls for end to restrictions on travelers

Shirakawasuji street in Kyoto during Golden Week holidays. With the lifting of internal virus restrictions domestic tourists are starting to travel around again.

Shirakawasuji street in Kyoto during Golden Week holidays. With the lifting of internal virus restrictions domestic tourists are starting to travel around again. Photographer: Kosuke Okahara/Bloomberg

May 10, 2022, 9:00 PM UTC

Japan’s economy is missing out on the key benefactors a sharply weaker yen would normally attract: foreign tourists.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida recently indicated that a relaxation of border measures would allow back the first leisure visitors to Japan in more than two years.