A plan is being discussed to impose a new tax on each traveler as they leave Japan — citizens and non-Japanese alike — to help finance measures promoting inbound tourism. There may be little resistance to such taxation since it will target people who can afford overseas travel and the amount, likely to be paid together with air fare, will be small. However, whether the proposed tax is really necessary — and whether it targets the people who will benefit from the initiative — should be examined carefully.

The way the tax has been hastily discussed and proposed since the idea first surfaced in the summer raises some serious questions. After only two months of discussion, an experts panel at the Japan Tourism Agency in mid-October proposed the tax be imposed on travelers either upon entry or departure, to raise funds for the promotion of inbound tourism. Endorsing the proposal, the Liberal Democratic Party's research commission on tourism in mid-November called for the creation of a ¥1,000 "tourism promotion tax" on each person departing Japan, saying the new levy is needed to help achieve the government's target of boosting inbound travelers to 40 million in 2020, when Tokyo hosts the summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. The following day, the idea was supported by infrastructure and transport minister Keiichi Ishii, who belons to Komeito, the LDP's coalition partner.

The creation of the tax — now being discussed by the LDP's tax commission — appears certain. Relevant bills will likely be submitted to the Diet next year, and the levy is expected to be imposed beginning sometime in 2019. Inbound tourism is one of the economy's few rapidly booming sectors, and the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe apparently hopes to use the revenue to fund tourism-related measures outside popular destinations like Tokyo and Kyoto, which would also contribute to its agenda of regional revitalization.