The Tokyo Metropolitan Government hopes to more than double the number of foreign tourists visiting Tokyo to 6 million a year within five years and is considering building a casino to attract visitors, officials said.

Presenting a draft of its plan to promote the tourist industry on Friday, the Bureau of Industrial and Labor Affairs envisions pitching Tokyo as a sightseeing spot through various international events.

If the number of foreign visitors jumps to 6 million from 2.77 million last year, it could earn 572.7 billion yen for related industries.

The draft also contemplates extending the hours of public transportation and theaters as well as providing new sightseeing and entertainment venues, such as casinos.

The bureau will aim to promote further "internationalization" of Haneda airport and more signs and pamphlets written in foreign languages.

According to a recent white paper on sightseeing and tourism, a total of 4.76 million foreigners visited Japan last year, of which 58 percent visited Tokyo, down from 65 percent in 1995.

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara told Friday's news conference, "The central government so far has had no measures to speak of to invite foreigners to Japan. It is in this context that Tokyo is planning to work out some kind of guidelines to teach the central government."

Ishihara to visit U.S.

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara is to leave for the United States on Sept. 8 to deliver a series of speeches. He plans to deliver a lecture at the Hudson Institute in Washington on Sept. 10.

He is also trying to arrange to meet with U.S. government officials about the U.S. Air Force's Yokota base in western Tokyo.

Ishihara has long sought partial civilian use of the base or its outright return to Tokyo. He is scheduled to return to Japan on Sept. 14 or 15.