SAPPORO -- With the Japanese government recently deciding to ease entry restrictions for overseas tourists, Chitose Airport near Sapporo is preparing to welcome visitors again. And Niseko, a major winter resort two and a half hours' drive west, is taking more reservations for the upcoming ski season.
All seems well, but there is one glaring weakness in the tourism business in Japan's northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido: a shortage of foreign staff.
