As Japanese hotels and tourist sites adapt to unprecedented numbers of foreign visitors, the tightly regulated profession of tour guide is following the flag and preparing to reform.

At the end of March, the government doubled its target for foreign tourists, aiming to lure 40 million visitors a year by 2020. It pledged a range of reforms, including "radically overhauling" the regulations governing the tourism sector.

Then in April, the Japan Tourism Agency decided to deregulate the tour guide industry, saying there could be a massive shortage of licensed guides in the face of growing demand.