With the government easing the criteria for granting individual travel visas to Chinese next month, Japan is gearing up to lure more tourists from the Middle Kingdom and make international tourism a pillar that can prop up the anemic economy.
Until now travel visas have been given out only to wealthy Chinese, but starting next month the relaxed rules will allow another 16 million households — 10 times the size of the current pool of potential travelers — to apply for a trip to Japan, the Foreign Ministry said.
The government will reportedly lower the minium annual income level to 60,000 yuan (about ¥800,000) from 250,000 yuan (¥3.34 million), which is nearly 14 times the average income in China's urban areas. A Foreign Ministry official however declined to disclose the specific level, saying factors other than income will also be considered.