Tourists are coming back to Japan — but while in the past they were driving Mario Karts down the main streets of Tokyo, now they’re being asked to sit in groups distanced from locals at restaurants and keep masks on while eating.
For those eager to get back into Japan, the country’s first step toward reopening to tourists in the form of chaperoned tour groups that began Friday has been met with much derision. Comparisons to the guided tours of North Korea have been frequent.
But relax: This isn’t the future of tourism in what is often ranked as the place people most want to visit. For a nation that was already quite skeptical about the merits of tourism before COVID-19, a measured reopening is the right approach.