This means foreign visitors spend more in Japan than Japanese spent on overseas travel. A Nikkei report cited government statistics that said the surplus of 1.7 billion yen ($171 million) was a sharp turnaround from the 22.4 billion deficit a year earlier.

This marks the first surplus since July 1970, when the World Expo in Osaka resulted in a surge in inbound tourists.

Of course this is happening at a time when overseas travel from Japan has dipped – the outbound market has been flat for sometime – the lower yen has worked against outbound but boosted inbound. But the recent easing of visa requirements and the new impetus being given to inbound – Olympics 2020 in sight – has certainly helped.

The numbers – a total of 1.23 million foreign tourists visited Japan in April, up 33.4% on the year. Tourists from Thailand and Vietnam hit a record high – reflecting pent-up demand from both countries. South-east Asia definitely provided the boost Japan badly needed.

Foreign tourists spent 429.8 billion yen in Japan between Jan-March, up 48.5% and a record high, according to  the Japan Tourism Agency.

Onwards and upwards, Japan.

Photo: Man and his best friend at play in Odaiba