Tourism ministers from Japan, China and South Korea will meet in mid-April in Tokyo, resuming what had been an annual meeting last held in 2011 before Japan-China ties soured.
Japanese tourism minister Akihiro Ota announced Tuesday that he would meet China National Tourism Administration Chairman Li Jinzao and South Korean Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Kim Jong-deok on April 11-12.
"There is a significant rise in tourists from China and South Korea (to Japan), but (visitors) from Japan to both those countries have been on the wane. We will discuss mutual expansion (of tourists) in the three countries," Ota said.
The three ministers are also expected to discuss jointly promoting the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, a Japanese official said.
The trilateral meeting, launched in 2006 in Hokkaido to promote tourism, was suspended in 2012 after Beijing declined to participate amid a confrontation with Tokyo over the Japan-controlled Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
The aborted 2012 meeting was to take place in Fukushima Prefecture, a symbolic move to help overcome the negative effects of the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdowns. This time, the venue is in Tokyo due to scheduling requirements, the Japan Tourism Agency said.