The government decided Sunday to consider relaxing visa requirements for tourists visiting Okinawa to attract foreign tourists, officials said.
In a meeting to discuss ways to ease regulations in Okinawa as one of the country's "strategic special zones," the government decided to proceed with a study to relax requirements for issuing tourist visas and simplify immigration procedures, they said.
"Okinawa will be a trigger for the revival of the Japanese economy through the promotion of tourism and creation of international innovation," said Masaaki Taira, senior vice minister in the Cabinet Office, at the meeting in Naha, the prefectural capital.
Other than Okinawa, the Kansai region, the city of Niigata and three other areas have been designated as strategic special zones.