Overseas tourists are changing the face of Japan

Visitors tame a rough Osaka neighborhood and breathe new life into ski resorts

20190826 Inbound Shinsaibashi Getty 1.jpg

Overseas tourists are changing the look of Osaka's Shinsaibashi-suji shopping street, where drugstore chains, encouraged by strong sales, have opened dozens of shops. © Getty Images

TEIICHI MIYAUCHI, Nikkei senior staff writer

OSAKA -- As international travelers flood into Japan, the face of Airin, a working-class district in Osaka, is changing.

Airin was long known as a town of day laborers who eked out a living doing odd jobs and stayed in flop houses. But as the decades passed, the business of offering cheap daily lodging grew more precarious as the local population aged.

Sponsored Content

About Sponsored ContentThis content was commissioned by Nikkei's Global Business Bureau.