ABSTRACT
Introduction Japan stands out among other Asian nations through its early economic development, and this is mirrored in tourism. The highly mature tourism market developed based on historical precedents like pilgrimages, visits to hot springs and regular ocial travel between the provinces and the capital. However, due to its geographic location far from other industrialized countries and the economic gap with neighbouring areas, until the 1990s this market catered mainly for domestic tourists and in consequence saw few intrusions by foreign investment. Only in the 21st century has “inbound” become the buzzword of tourism policies and industries, although the inbound tourism consumption ratio in 2012 was still a mere 5.7%, the lowest among countries that run a Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) (Japan Tourism Agency 2014a: 277).
