TOKYO (AP) — Eager to admire colorful foliage, eat sushi and go shopping, droves of tourists from abroad began arriving in Japan on Tuesday, with the end of pandemic-fighting border restrictions that had been in place for more than two years.
“We got the news that we can finally come. We are really, really happy,” said Nadine Lackmann, a German who was among the crowd of tourists arriving at Tokyo’s Haneda airport.
Travelers like Lackmann are expected to deliver a sorely needed $35 billion boost to the world’s third-largest economy. And the flood of visitors is expected to keep growing.