Sumio Mabuchi, the new minister of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism, said he is concerned political tensions between Japan and China will seriously damage the tourism industry, which is starting to see trip cancellations, including one involving about 10,000 employees of a Chinese company.
Nevertheless, Mabuchi said his ministry is determined to attract as many tourists as possible to Japan.
"I am very worried about the impact getting bigger," the new minister said Tuesday in an interview with news organizations. "We will do what we should do for tourism to reach our goal."