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This afternoon during lunchtime, I watched TV, and they were featuring Kamakura. My home is quite close, but I haven’t gone sightseeing in Kamakura for a long time. It seems Komachi Street has changed a lot—many new shops have opened. There are all sorts of stylish cafés now, and temples like Hokokuji, famous for its bamboo grove, have become very popular. It seems many foreign visitors are coming as well.

When I was a child, I went to see the Great Buddha, and I think I went once more over twenty years ago, but not since then. Still, seeing all those delicious-looking restaurants made me think I should visit again someday. Since I haven’t been to Kamakura lately, I might not even be able to guide visitors around if someone I know comes. These days, people seem to visit after seeing places on social media—and those spots end up with long lines. That’s quite a surprising phenomenon.

However, recently even foreign tourists come after seeing things on social media. When I went to Kyoto the other day, I visited a rather unusual sushi restaurant. Among the five groups of customers, only two groups were Japanese—us and one other—and the remaining three were all foreigners. When I visited Kyoto again this spring, a taxi driver told me that almost all his customers were foreigners.

I once went to Barcelona long ago, and I recall the tour guide saying that many buildings were being bought by Koreans. I also went to Bali before, but in Bali, foreigners are not allowed to buy land. So I wonder—why is it that in Japan, foreigners can buy land? I think this is something that needs to be reconsidered and reformed. I often hear that areas near important water sources or in Hokkaido have been bought by foreigners, so I truly hope future governments will address this issue.