Direct international flights change the economics of regional tourism. Japan’s Regional Tourism Ambition Faces a China ProblemJapan has spent years confronting the opposite tourism problem: too many international visitors concentrated in too few places. Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and several famous attractions have struggled with crowding, while many rural communities continue searching for international tourism demand. The effect may be especially important for smaller airports because regional international routes are inherently more fragile than Tokyo-Shanghai or Osaka-Beijing. Yet in 2026, one is gaining the connectivity required to disperse Chinese tourism while the other is losing it.