For as long as I can remember, Japanese visitors have had a large presence in the Islands, on tour buses in Waikiki, dancing hula with the locals, paying respects at Pearl Harbor, and shopping in the many luxury retail stores that targeted them.But since the pandemic, the number of Japanese visitors has decreased significantly. In 2019, Hawaii saw more than 1.5 million visitors from Japan, but in 2021, it dropped to 24,232. Last year, Japanese arrivals rose to 572,979. The first quarter of 2024... Read this story
