Warm welcome, cold shoulder
Other attitudes may also need to change.
To be sure, many foreigners receive the sort of warm welcome that delighted Wendy Harris, an Australian civil servant.
"The people have been exceptionally friendly," said Harris, during a visit to Tokyo's Asakusa district, famous for its Buddhist temple and rows of tiny shops selling traditional items from kimonos to rice crackers.
Impressed also by Japan's cleanliness and efficient public transport system, Harris said she would definitely recommend it to friends as a holiday destination.
Other foreigners, though, complain of getting the cold shoulder at inns, restaurants and shops, even in the capital.
Few Japanese have a solid grasp of foreign languages, and innkeepers are often concerned that they will not be able to communicate with non-Japanese guests.
Tight visa restrictions, on Chinese visitors in particular, can also be discouraging. Officially, the tight rules are there to ensure Japan is not overrun by illegal immigrants.
Japan also could have a tough time meeting its tourist target in the face of stiff competition from its less costly neighbours, while the economic impact of the campaign will probably leave many of the nation's nooks and crannies untouched.
"At least it shows the country is thinking about tourism -- that's progress," said hotel-owner Nakayama.
But he held out little hope that the campaign would benefit his own remote corner of Japan, which he said was too obscure and still too expensive for most foreign tourists.
A matter of pride
Still, despite Japan's penchant for bulldozing historic buildings to make way for modern monoliths and paving mountain paradises with concrete, there is no dearth of traditional and modern sights to see.
"There is still incredible cultural wealth," said Kerr.
"Kyoto, for all they've done to it, is an amazing place," he said, referring to Japan's ancient capital, many of whose shrines, temples and gardens huddle in a jumble of modern buildings.
Yumiko Sato, a member of a panel set up to advise Koizumi on tourism issues and an expert on lifestyle trends at drinks maker Suntory Ltd, says Japan should market its unique traditions -- offering tourists a chance to try on a kimono, cook Japanese food or make a ceramic tea bowl.
But the real key to success could be Japan's pride and its competitive spirit.
A recent editorial in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, a business newspaper, suggested how galling it was for the world's second largest economy to be tagged a "minor country" in terms of tourism, less popular than China or South Korea.
"If Japan does not change with the times, it will start to be seen as a provincial country, and its diplomatic influence may wane," the newspaper said.
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