Free tickets to Japan from the Japanese government

Announced today – the Japanese ministry of tourism is planning to invite 10,000 foreigners to Japan – and pay for your travel.

Applications will be done through the internets and folks will be invited during 2012. Applicants need to submit their travel plans for when they are in Japan and if the government thinks that you truly intend to visit (and not overstay as an illegal immigrant) then they will pay for your return ticket.

The Japanese governments strategy for this plan is that they expect travelers to blog and use social media to spread the word about their experience in Japan which should hopefully lead to more folks visiting Japan.

The amount of foreigners visiting Japan since the earthquake and nuclear accident has decreased a ton – some prefectures like Yamagata have experienced up to 80% drop in overseas visitors.

The Japanese government is spending 1.1 billion yen on this project.

I got the news from here.