Japan started the Visit Japan program in 2003 to attract foreign tourists to Japan in an effort to help vitalize the Japanese economy through tourism. That year, 5.21 million foreign tourists visited Japan.

Although the government set the goal of attracting 10 million foreign tourists in 2010, only 8.61 million came. Although that figure was a record for Japan, it placed Japan at just No. 30 worldwide. In Asia, Japan stood at No. 8, attracting fewer foreign tourists than China, Malaysia, Hong Kong and South Korea. In 2012, 8.37 million foreign tourists visited Japan. About 65 percent of them were from East Asia — 2.04 million from South Korea, 1.47 million from Taiwan, 1.43 million from China and 480,000 from Hong Kong.

It is clear that both the public and private sectors must make Japan a more convenient and attractive place for foreign tourists to visit. But there are signs that the government isn't serious about attracting visitors. For example, the Japan Tourism Agency used computer translations to create English text for its online campaign to attract foreign tourists to the Tohoku region in 2012. The translations were embarrassingly poor and had to be dropped. Japan still suffers from a shortage of English-language signage and bilingual workers in tourist-related industries. Even simple tasks such as buying train ticket or renting cars can be daunting experiences for foreign visitors.