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This Week in Startups · Monday, August 3, 2026

Japan's Tourism Boom Driven by Weak Yen and Affordability

Japan has become a highly popular tourist destination, with 60 million visitors annually, largely attributed to the weakening Yen making it an affordable location. Despite being one of the cheapest destinations, Japan offers high-quality experiences, including food and shopping, which appeal to a broad audience. This economic factor, combined with cultural attractions and experiences like skiing, has significantly boosted tourism.

The tape

3 quotes
Yes, it has. When we first started back in 2015, tourists were not, you know, everywhere. Like today we walk around the street and it's very difficult not to see any tourists, right?
Akemi Tsunagawa
There are multiple reasons. Uh, of course, like the big factor is the weekend currency, right?
Akemi Tsunagawa
Japan used to be an expensive destination a long, long time ago, right? But now, I think it's one of the cheapest, like the most affordable destination. Uh, you still get high quality. People are delighted to come to something that is extremely high quality at a very fair price.
Akemi Tsunagawa
Heard on This Week in Startups — “How Bespoke faked AI until it actually worked (w/ Akemi Tsunagawa) | E2320, published Monday, August 3, 2026. Heardvine summarizes and quotes with attribution and timestamps, and links to the original everywhere.
Transcribed via Gemini audio transcription · $0.06
Japan's Tourism Boom Driven by Weak Yen and Affordability — Heardvine