JAPAN: The Hon. Dollars

Photographers' flashbulbs and shopkeepers' eyes popped in happy unison as the sleek green Cunard luxury liner Caronia tied up at a Kobe pier side. "A particularly wonderful group," clucked an official of the Japan Travel Bureau as a long line of Helen Hokinson ladies and balding gentlemen picked their way down the gangplank. "I should estimate that they came 95% to buy souvenirs and only 5% for sightseeing—a tedious business anyway."

Remembering the carefree days when tourism earned them more money from overseas than even the silk textile business, the Japanese had looked forward eagerly to the well-advertised arrival of...

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