There's a great irony in the Japanese government's "action plan" to double the the number of tourists who come to these shores by 2010.
While the goal of the campaign is to attract more foreigners to Japan, an ongoing tendency to blame a deterioration in public safety on the foreign community could scupper Japan's chances of really benefiting from a tourism windfall.
As Japan's jobless rate rises to record levels and regional economies are being hit hardest by over a decade of tough economic times, the government is now looking to tourism to give the country a boost.