Japan Finance Ministry upgrades economic assessment for Okinawa
The ministry's local bureau chiefs held a quarterly meeting on Tuesday, and said Okinawa is seeing a sharp rise in inbound visitor numbers, due in part to more flights. They said hotels and other tourism businesses are thriving, and retail sales are up.
The officials said the opening last week of the Junglia Okinawa amusement park has helped to fill hotel rooms.
But elsewhere the picture is less rosy. The ministry kept its assessment unchanged for all 10 other regions, and says the Japanese economy overall is picking up moderately, a phrase unchanged for two years.
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